Hui Li, Ying Liu, Jing Chen, Xia Tan, Xiu-Yun Ye, Ming-Sheng Ma, Jian-Ping Huang,

Li-Ping Zou

Beijing, China

Author Affiliations: Department of Pediatrics, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100583, China (Li H, Liu Y, Zou LP); Department of Pediatrics, Xin Hua Hospital and Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai 200127, China (Chen J, Tan X); Department of Radiology, The Yuying Children Hospital Affiliated Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325027, China (Ye XY); Department of Pediatrics, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 1007320, China (Ma MS); Department of Nephrology and Rheumatology, Bayi Children's Hospital Affiliated to Beijing Military Region General Hospital, Beijing 100700, China (Huang JP)

Corresponding Author: Li-Ping Zou, Department of Pediatrics, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Center of Epilepsy, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing 100853, China (Tel: +86-10-55499016; Fax: +86-10­66939770; Email: zouliping21@hotmail.com); Jing Chen, Department of Pediatrics, Xin Hua Hospital and Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai 200127, China (Tel: +86­21-38626161 ext. 82073; Fax: +86-21-38626296; Email: chenjingscmc@ hotmail.com)

doi: 10.1007/s12519-015-0027-1

Online First June 2015.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical features of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) in children.

Methods: The medical records of 31 patients from five medical centers who were diagnosed with PRES from 2001 to 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. In the 31 patients, 16 were males, and 15 females, with a median age of 7 years (3-12 years). Patients younger than 10 years accounted for 74.2% of the 31 patients.

Results: Seizure, the most common clinical sign, occurred in 29 of the 31 patients. Visual disturbances were also observed in 20 patients. Cerebral imaging abnormalities were bilateral and predominant in the parietal and occipital white matter. In this series, three patients died in the acute phase of PRES. One patient had resolution of neurologic presentation within one week, but no apparent improvement in radiological abnormalities was observed at eight months. One patient showed gradual recovery of both neurologic presentation and radiological abnormalities during follow-up at eight months. One patient developed long-term cortical blindness. All of the PRES patients with hematologic tumor had a worse prognosis than those without hematologic tumor.

Conclusions: Seizure is a prevalent characteristic of children with PRES. Poor prognosis can be seen in PRES patients with hematologic tumor.

                                                                                                  World J Pediatr 2015;11(3):245-249

Key words: adverse outcomes; posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome; seizure;

     tumors