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subacute sclerosing panencephalitis

subacute sclerosing panencephalitis definition - medical

subacute sclerosing panencephalitis

noun Abbr. SSPE
An often fatal degenerative disease of the central nervous system occurring chiefly in young people, caused by slow infection with a measles virus and characterized by progressive loss of mental and motor functions ending in dementia and paralysis.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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