Herpes Simplex Retinopathy in an Infant

Abstract

The present paper concerns the retinal pathology in a case of herpes simplex infection of the newborn. The patient was an infant, who, along with the eye disease, had a severe encephalitis that caused profound dementia and eventually death. The reason for indicting herpes simplex was a 32-fold rise in the herpes simplex titer during the course of the disease. The clinical symptoms and neuropathologic abnormalities in this patient are being described in the neurologic literature (Young et al¹) and will be reviewed only briefly in this paper. Report of Case The patient was an infant girl with an uneventful gestational and neonatal history. At the age of 3 weeks she developed fever (101.5 F [38.6 C]), irritability, and clonic seizures. No vesicles or other evidence of herpes simplex were seen in the patient's skin or mucous membranes. Study on the Neuropediatric Service of the Massachusetts General Hospital revealed: