Cerebellar ataxia in infectious mononucleosis

The well-recognised neurological complications of infectious mononucleosis include lymphocytic meningitis, encephalomyelitis with convulsions, cranial and peripheral nerve palsies, Guillain-Barré Syndrome and hemiparesis. Cerebellar involvement is very rare, particularly in females and children. We describe a 14-year-old schoolgirl in whom cerebellar dysfunction proved a dominant feature, and who also gave a previous history of neurological presentation with mumps infection.