Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)--induced retinitis following herpes simplex encephalitis: indications for brain-to-eye transmission of HSV-1.

Herpes simplex encephalitis is a severe neurological disease with high mortality and morbidity rates. Reactivated herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can cause relapses and might even spread to the retina, where it can induce a potentially blinding eye disease, known as acute retinal necrosis. In the present study, the HSV-1 strains in the brain and eye of 2 patients with acute retinal necrosis following an episode of herpes simplex encephalitis were genotyped. The HSV-1 strains in both the brain and eye were identical in each patient, but they differed interindividually. The data suggest brain-to-eye transmission of HSV-1 in these patients.