# A Rare Case of Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy of Childhood: A Case Report

## TL;DR

This paper reports a rare case of a severe childhood brain disorder called acute necrotizing encephalopathy, highlighting its symptoms and MRI findings.

## Contribution

The paper presents a new clinical case of ANEC with characteristic MRI findings in an eight-year-old boy.

## Key findings

- The patient showed fever, febrile seizures, and drowsiness, followed by MRI findings consistent with ANEC.
- MRI revealed a symmetric tricolor appearance of bilateral thalamic lesions, typical of ANEC.

## Abstract

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy of childhood (ANEC) is a severe neurological disorder characterized by rapid-onset encephalopathy, often associated with viral infections. Acute necrotizing encephalopathy of childhood is associated with a very high mortality rate, and survivors may face long-term neurological sequelae. Acute necrotizing encephalopathy of childhood needs to be differentiated from its closest differential diagnosis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). Most of the patients with ADEM recover, with a few of them having residual neurological deficits. We present a case of an eight-year-old boy with an acute history of fever, febrile seizures, and drowsiness. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a symmetric tricolor appearance of bilateral thalamic lesions, characteristic of ANEC.