Case Report
Bickerstaff Brainstem Encephalitis Masquerading As Snake Bite: A Case Report
Meghana BL1, Jain MK1*, Patnaik S1, Sahoo B1, Behera MR1, Mishra R1 and Panda S2
1Department of Pediatrics, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
2Department of radio diagnosis, Kalinga institute of medical sciences, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
2Department of radio diagnosis, Kalinga institute of medical sciences, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
*Corresponding author:Mukesh Kumar Jain, Department of Pediatrics, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. E-mail Id: Mukesh26.jain@gmail.com
Article Information:Submission: 06/04/2024; Accepted: 25/04/2024; Published: 30/04/2024
Copyright:© 2024 Meghana BL, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Introduction:Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis (BBE) is a rare immune mediated disease that has good prognosis. It presents with several clinical and immunological similarities with Guillain Barre syndrome and miller fisher syndrome.
Aim:To sensitize the pediatrician to revise the diagnosis of snake bite in absence of improvement with antisnake venom.
Case: We report a case of 5-year-old male child presented with drooping of eyelids followed by difficulty breathing and altered sensorium, provisionally diagnosed and treated as a case of snake bite later diagnosed as Bickerstaff encephalitis clinically and supported by laboratory and radiological investigations.
Results:The child had fully recovered with supportive care and IVIG.
Conclusion:The interest in this observation lies in its rarity, presenting symptoms and drastic clinical improvement with immunotherapy. Any case of neurogenic snake bite which did not respond to conventional treatment, we should look for alternative diagnosis.
Aim:To sensitize the pediatrician to revise the diagnosis of snake bite in absence of improvement with antisnake venom.
Case: We report a case of 5-year-old male child presented with drooping of eyelids followed by difficulty breathing and altered sensorium, provisionally diagnosed and treated as a case of snake bite later diagnosed as Bickerstaff encephalitis clinically and supported by laboratory and radiological investigations.
Results:The child had fully recovered with supportive care and IVIG.
Conclusion:The interest in this observation lies in its rarity, presenting symptoms and drastic clinical improvement with immunotherapy. Any case of neurogenic snake bite which did not respond to conventional treatment, we should look for alternative diagnosis.
Keywords:Bickerstaff Brainstem Encephalitis; Snake Bite; GuillianBarre Syndrome Variant