Acute retinal necrosis caused by herpes simplex virus type 2 in children: reactivation of an undiagnosed latent neonatal herpes infection.

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is known to cause acute retinal necrosis (ARN). The availability of HSV-2-specific polymerase chain reaction tests for diagnostic analysis has greatly increased our ability to discriminate ARN caused by HSV-2 from ARN caused by either herpes simplex virus type 1 or varicella zoster virus (VZV). Of great interest, HSV-2 appears to be the most common cause of viral ARN in children and adolescents. Although a few children with ARN are known to have had neonatally acquired herpes infection, most children lack a history of known herpes disease. Thus, the origin of the HSV-2 infection is a mystery. The hypothesis of this review is that HSV-2 ARN in children and adolescents may be the first sign of a previously undiagnosed and asymptomatic neonatal HSV-2 infection, which has reactivated several years later from latency in a cranial nerve and entered the retina. The review brings together 7 previously published ARN cases, plus one new case is added. Thus, this review also expands the spectrum of complications from neonatal HSV-2 infection.