A CASE OF MRI-NEGATIVE HERPES VIRUS ENCEPHALITIS PRESENTED BY RAMSAY HUNT SYNDROME.

Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS) occurs due to reactivation of latent Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) infection in the geniculate ganglion of the facial nerve. Major clinical symptoms include ipsilateral facial paralysis, otic pain, and herpetic vesicles (rashes) along the nerve with accompanying ear pain. Rarely clinical findings include retrograde transaxonal spread of the virus from the ganglion into the brain parenchyma with developing the encephalitis or multiple cranial nerve involvement. We describe here a patient with both RHS along with complicating brainstem encephalitis developed due to the coinfection of VZV and EBV.