Cerebral sinovenous thrombosis in the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome in childhood.

The idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is a leukoproliferative disorder marked by a sustained overproduction of eosinophils and a distinct predilection to damage specific organs, especially the cardiovascular system. It is primarily a disease of middle-aged people. Occasional cases have been encountered in children. We report a case of an 11-year-old boy affected by idiopathic HES with an unusual rapidly fatal course. In addition to eosinophilic cellulitis, cerebral straight and superior sagittal sinus vein thrombosis (CVT) was evident on cranial CT. In our review of the English literature we were unable to find an association between idiopathic HES and CVT.