Dengue fever presenting with acute cerebellitis: a case report

The incidence of dengue fever is on the rise in tropical countries. In Sri Lanka, nearly 45,000 patients were reported in 2012. With the increasing numbers, rare manifestations of dengue are occasionally encountered. We report a patient who presented with bilateral cerebellar signs as the presenting feature of dengue.

A 45-year-old previously healthy female from the suburbs of Colombo, Sri Lanka presented with an acute febrile illness associated with unsteadiness of gait. Clinical examination revealed a scanning dysarthria and marked horizontal nystagmus with bilateral dysmetria, dysdiadokokinesia and incordination more prominent on the right. Her gait was wide-based and ataxic with a tendency to fall to the right more than to the left. Dengue nonstructural protein antigen 1 test and IgM antibody testing both became positive indicating acute dengue infection. She recovered from the febrile episode within 9 days since the onset of fever but cerebellar symptoms outlasted the fever by one week. The magnetic resonance imaging of brain was normal and cerebellar signs resolved spontaneously by day 17 of the illness.

Cerebellar syndrome in association with dengue fever has been reported in only four instances and our patient is the first reported case of dengue fever presenting with cerebellitis as the first manifestation of disease. This case report is intended to highlight the occurrence of acute cerebellitis as a presenting syndrome of the expanding list of unusual neurological manifestations of dengue infection.