Enteroviruses are one of the most important causes of viral encephalitis in the neonatal period. However, the non-specificity of the symptoms presented renders its diagnosis challenging. Intracranial MRI has been reported to be a very useful imaging modality that can detect the characteristic white matter lesions around the periventricular regions. In this study, we report a case of a patient with neonatal encephalitis who presented with normal white blood cell counts in the initial cerebrospinal fluid analysis. A lumbar puncture retap identified pleocytosis, and polymerase chain reaction assays detected enterovirus 71 in the blood and stool samples. Furthermore, MRI revealed atypical disseminated cortical and subcortical white matter lesions on diffusion weighted images, and neuroradiological re-evaluation showed necrotic changes 2 weeks later. This unique case expands our knowledge of the spectrum of neurological disorders due to enterovirus 71 infection in neonatal period.

肠道病毒是新生儿期病毒性脑炎的最重要原因之一。然而，所呈现症状的非特异性使其诊断具有挑战性。据报道，颅内 MRI 是一种非常有用的成像方式，可以检测脑室周围区域的特征性白质病变。在本研究中，我们报告了一例新生儿脑炎患者，该患者在初始脑脊液分析中白细胞计数正常。腰椎穿刺重复发现细胞增多症，聚合酶链反应检测在血液和粪便样本中检测到肠道病毒 71。此外，MRI 在弥散加权图像上显示非典型的播散性皮层和皮层下白质病变，神经放射学重新评估显示 2 周后出现坏死变化。