E Szalai

Publications (2)3.05 Total impact

• Article: Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in an HIV-infected child.

  Z Liptai, E Papp, P Barsi, I Mihály, E Szalai, J Csomor, Z Jelenik
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  ABSTRACT: Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy is an infection of the immunosuppressed, especially of AIDS, patients. The disease is caused by the JC virus and is exceptionally rare in children. The diagnosis is based on MRI and on the detection of JC virus DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid. Progression is relentless in most cases. The only treatment of proven benefit is restoration of the immune system by highly active antiretroviral therapy. We report the case of a 15S-year-old HIV-infected boy. After several months of fatigue he developed apathy, head tilt, diplopia, motor apraxia and unsteady gait. Physical examination revealed mild cerebellar signs. MRI showed a 30-mm large, non-enhancing, hyper-intense area in the right cerebellar hemisphere and the middle cerebellar peduncle. JC virus DNA was detected in the cerebrospinal fluid. Two weeks later the MRI showed progression. The patient's condition rapidly worsened and he died four months after the onset of the disease. Autopsy revealed widespread lesions of the cerebellar hemispheres and the brainstem. The case presented is peculiar owing to the young age of the patient, the unusual localization and the unifocal nature of the lesion.
  Neuropediatrics 03/2007; 38(1):32-5. · 0.94 Impact Factor
• Article: Genotypic distribution of human herpesvirus-8 strains circulating in HIV-positive patients with and without Kaposi's sarcoma in Hungary.

  E Szalai, M Takács, R Otvös, J Szlávik, A Juhász, G Berencsi
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  ABSTRACT: Open reading frame (ORF) 26 of human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) from peripheral blood samples of 15 Hungarian HIV-positive patients with or without Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) were amplified and sequenced. Four variants of HHV-8 were identified according to ORF 26 genotyping. Most of the samples were shown to be subtype A3, however, subtypes A, B3/C2/C2', and C3 (ORF 26 region) were also identified. The ORF 26 subtypes A and C3 of HHV-8 were only recovered from patients with KS while A3 was dominant in KS negative cases. The amplification of the hypervariable ORF K1 gene was successful only from 2 of the same 15 patients. Sequence analysis of the amplified ORF K1/VR1 regions identified subtype A3 from 2 patients with AIDS-associated KS. A novel ORF K1/VR1 variant belonging to subgroup A' was detected in a different sample in one of them. Amplification of the ORF K15, another representative locus for HHV-8 genotyping, was not successful from any of the peripheral blood samples. Unsuccessful amplification of the terminal K1 and K15 ORFs from peripheral blood samples suggests that KS biopsy specimens are needed for complete genotyping of HHV-8 strains from Hungary.
  Archives of Virology 08/2005; 150(7):1315-26. · 2.11 Impact Factor