A 34-Year-Old Pregnant Woman with Confusion and Visual Loss

The following excerpt is a case presentation on subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a rare and severe neurological complication of measles infection. It was originally published in the May 14, 1998, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

A 34-year-old right-handed woman was admitted to the hospital because of progressive confusion and visual loss.

The patient had been well until four months earlier, when her family observed a reduction in spontaneous speech, increasing timidity, and confusion during her fourth pregnancy. Two months before admission she was unable to sign checks reliably, although it was unclear whether the problem was related to her vision or confusion. She began to report a persistent right frontal headache. Three weeks before admission, she had an uncomplicated vaginal delivery at another hospital. Two days later, she could not sign her name because of …

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REPORT #90

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