Affiliations: Department of Pediatrics, Hospital Civile, Ragusa,
Italy | Department of Pediatrics, University of Catania,
Catania, Italy | Department of Infectious Diseases, Thomas Jefferson
University, Philadelphia, USA
Note: [] Correspondence: Piero Pavone, M.D., Divisione di Clinica
Pediatrica, Clinica Pediatrica, Università di Catania, Via Santa Sofia
78-95125 Catania, Italy. Tel.: +39 95 3782478/3782394; Fax: +39 95 222532;
E-mail: ppavone@mbox.unict.it
Abstract: Recent infection seems to be an important and independent risk
factor for neurological illness, but the mechanism linking infection and
neurological involvement is still largely undetermined. Among infective agents,
Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a reasonably common cause of neurological
complications in childhood and it can manifest in several ways, including
cerebral infarction and extrapyramidal features. Here, we report on a child who
had a peripheral neuropathy chronologically, clinically and biologically
related to M. pneumoniae infection. The present report supports the hypothesis
of a close causal relationship between this infective agent and the
neurological symptoms experienced by this child during an acute episode of
respiratory disease.
