[PS6-1B-3] Rotavirus associated white matter injury in neonates: who, when, and how?
That rotavirus infection can cause neurological symptoms in young children has been well established. However, it is surprising why rotavirus infection has been overlooked as a cause of neonatal seizures for many years, despite significant research interest in neonatal rotavirus infection. Neonates are the age group most vulnerable to seizures, which are typically attributed to a wide range of causes. By contrast, because rotavirus infection is usually asymptomatic, it has been difficult to identify an association between this virus and neonatal seizures. The conventional wisdom has been that, although neonates are commonly infected with rotavirus, neurological complications are rare in this age. However, recent studies using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) have suggested a connection between rotavirus infection and neonatal seizures and that rotavirus infection can induce diffuse white matter injury without direct invasion of the central nervous system. With increased use of DWI in neonatal seizures, we are just starting to understand connection between viral infection and white matter injury in neonates. I present the clinical features of white matter injury in neonatal rotavirus infection and a possible mechanism on this category of disease.