Rehabilitation of three patients after treatment for herpes encephalitis

Patients with Herpes simplex encephalitis often are considered to be poor rehabilitation candidates because of their multiple deficits and grave prognosis. This report presents case reports on three patients with biopsy-proven Herpes simplex encephalitis, all of whom were treated with acyclovir in acute care and then admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation program. All had multiple brain lesions with minimal motor findings but cognitive and communication deficits. One patient, two weeks after admission, slipped into a coma and was transferred to an acute care hospital where he subsequently expired. The other two made useful functional gains and were discharged home in two weeks and 10 weeks, suggesting that a trial of rehabilitation may be warranted after Herpes simplex encephalitis.