Encéphalite fulgurante dans les suites d'une primo-infection à EBV

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may have a variable clinical expression including neurological damage that can be fatal in very rare cases. We report the case of a 32-year-old patient who presented encephalitis with diffuse cerebral edema following acute tonsilitis. Death occurred within a few hours. Diagnosis was established post mortem by the identification of a primary EBV infection in the blood sample and by the autopsy, which revealed post-infectious meningo-encephalomyelitis. The cerebral spinal fluid cytological and virological analyses were normal. This case illustrates the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges encountered in such hyperacute situations.