Central Nervous System and Renal Vasculitis Associated With Primary Varicella Infection in a Child

A 7-year-old girl with primary varicella presented with encephalopathy and focal neurologic deficits 10 days after her first skin lesions appeared. She was discovered to have bilateral wedge-shaped renal infarctions, and ischemic lesions in the conus medullaris, cerebral cortex, and deep gray matter consistent with a medium and large vessel arteritis on magnetic resonance imaging. This complication has never before been reported in an immunocompetent child with primary varicella infection, and it represents a rare but serious complication of childhood chickenpox. Pediatrics 2001;107(1). URL: http://www.pediatrics.org/ cgi/content/full/107/1/e9; varicella, child, vasculitis, cerebral arteritis, renal arteritis.