Varicella with delayed contralateral hemiparesis detected by MRI.

We report a 3 1/2-year-old boy who developed a hemiparesis 4 weeks after the onset of a varicella infection. In previously described cases of varicella with delayed contralateral hemiparesis, computed tomography typically revealed infarcts in the basal ganglia and internal capsule. To our knowledge, our patient is the first studied by magnetic resonance imaging. The pathogenesis of this syndrome may be a varicella zoster virus-related vasculopathy similar to that observed in herpes zoster ophthalmicus with delayed contralateral hemiparesis.