Reye syn·drome

(rī),

an acquired encephalopathy of young children that follows an acute febrile illness, usually influenza or varicella infection; characterized by recurrent vomiting, agitation, and lethargy, which may lead to coma with intracranial hypertension; ammonia and serum transaminase levels are elevated; death may result from edema of the brain and resulting cerebral herniation. May be linked to aspirin ingestion.

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

Reye syndrome

Neurology A potentially fatal condition characterized by acute encephalopathy and fatty degeneration of liver, with a dose-dependent relationship to use of aspirin in children with viral infections–eg, influenza, varicella-zoster Clinical Vomiting, hepatic dysfunction, variable neurologic impairment–irritable and combative behavior, loss of consciousness, stupor, seizures, coma, death, often preceded by viral URIs or varicella Lab ↑ Transaminases, glutamine and ammonia in CSF, hypoglycemia, metabolic acidosis DiffDx Drug & chemicals–Aspirin, other salicylates, acetaminophen, lead, valproic acid, methyl bromide, hydrocarbons, chlordane, ethanol, disulfiram Infectious–viral encephalitis, hepatitis Metabolic–cystic fibrosis, carnitine deficiency, hereditary fructose intolerance, isovaleric acidemia, urea cycle disorders Others–Pancreatic encephalopathy, acute encephalopathy with fatty metamorphosis of the liver due to cold agglutinin autoimmune hemolytic anemia, toxic encephalopathy Treatment None universally accepted. See Lovejoy's classification, Will Rogers phenomenon.

Reye syn·drome

(rī sin'drōm)

An acquired encephalopathy of young children that follows an acute febrile illness, usually influenza or varicella infection; characterized by recurrent vomiting, agitation, and lethargy, which may lead to coma with intracranial hypertension; ammonia and serum transaminases are elevated; death may result from edema of the brain and resulting cerebral herniation. Strongly associated with aspirin therapy.
Synonym(s): hepatic encephalopathy (2) .

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

Reye,

Ralph Douglas Kenneth, Australian pediatric pathologist, 1912-1978.

Reye syndrome - an acquired encephalopathy of young children that follows an acute febrile illness, usually influenza or varicella infection.

Medical Eponyms © Farlex 2012

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References in periodicals archive

The clinical symptoms of the patients infected with NII561-2000-related viruses were gastroenteritis, respiratory symptoms, rash, and flaccid paralysis in addition to Reye syndrome (Table 5), and these disease categories were similar to those of other HPeVs (2,3).

In this study, we isolated a novel HPeV (NII561-2000) from a 1-year-old girl with Reye syndrome and determined the nucleotide sequence.

The NII561-2000 virus was originally isolated from a patient with Reye syndrome, an acute noninflammatory encephalopathy characterized by an antecedent viral infection, such as influenza or varicella (10-12).

Reye syndrome revisited: a descriptive term covering a group of heterogeneous disorders.

Isolation and characterization of novel human parechovirus from clinical samples

Salicylates were withheld in children with chickenpox and influenza, reports of Reye syndrome declined, lives were saved, and science had trumped politics.

National surveillance for Reye syndrome, 1981: update, Reye syndrome and salicylate usage.

Director's perspective-William H. Foege, M.D., M.P.H., 1977-1983

The recently reported study from Michigan involved 25 patients with Reye syndrome and 44 controls selected in a manner similar to that of the Ohio study, matched for the same criteria, and interviewed 4 to 83 days (mean 6.5 weeks) after their acute illness.

Editorial Note: Although the epidemiologic association between Reye syndrome and antecedent viral illnesses is well established, the etiology of this rare disease remains unclear.

These include 1) difficulties in obtaining comparable and accurate medication histories in patients following a significant event (Reye syndrome) when compared to controls who have had a relatively minor illness, and the difficulty of accurate recall of events several weeks later, 2) the possibility that cases had a more severe antecedent illness and/or a pre-encephalopathic illness that included severe vomiting and headaches -- both of which may have predisposed them to take more medications than controls -- and 3) the presumed need to select cases and controls with the same viral infections, including influenza B, influenza A (H1N1), and varicella, since Reye syndrome is thought to be more strongly associated with these infections.

It is possible that parents of patients with Reye syndrome were more likely than parents of controls to recall events immediately preceding their child's major illness and hospitalization, including medications taken by their child during this period.

Another possible reason for differences in medication histories in cases and controls is that Reye syndrome patients may have a more severe or prolonged antecedent illness and/or may subsequently develop a pre-encephalopathic illness, associated with severe vomiting, for which they might receive additional medications.

Reye syndrome - Ohio, Michigan

For the 1989 surveillance year-a period characterized by widespread influenza B activity-25 cases of RS were reported by state health departments to CDC's National Reye Syndrome Surveillance System (NRSSS).

Reye syndrome surveillance - United States, 1989