A Study of Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE): Clinical and Investigation Profile in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE) is a rare and slowly progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by persistence of mutant measles virus in the central nervous system. Myoclonic jerk is the predominant feature. Objective: To identify common clinical, demographic and investigation findings of diagnosed cases of Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis. Material and Methods: This is a Cross sectional observational study was done in Department of Paediatric Neuroscience, Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute during the period from September 2024 to February 2025. Total 10 cases were included after diagnosis of SSPE. The diagnosis was based on a combination of clinical features and investigation findings. When clinical and investigation findings supported the diagnosis of SSPE then the case was included in this study. All data were recorded on a previously prepared standard data collection form Results: 90% cases were in 5-15 years age group. 80% cases were male and 20% were female. Among 10 patients, 60% patients had past history of measles infection and 80% patients were vaccinated against measles. Presenting symptoms were behavioral change (40%), cognitive decline (70%), decreased school performance (50%) and motor regression (100%), myoclonic jerks (80%), fall to ground (20%), altered speech (60%), vision loss (20%), spasticity (80%) and clonus (30%). Measles specific IgG in CSF was positive in (80%) cases and positive serum measles antibody was in (100%) cases. Patients had an abnormal EEG finding which includes periodic complexes (70%), generalized spike (20%) or slow wave (10%). Total 80% patients had abnormal findings on neuroimaging. Conclusion: Children presenting with developmental regression, myoclonic jerks, characteristics EEG changes, measles specific antibody in CSF and serum may help in the diagnosis of SSPE.