PMID: 26793848Jan 23, 2016Paper

PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS GENERATED BY AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALITIS (CLINICAL CASE)

Revista medico-chirurgicală̆ a Societă̆ţ̜ii de Medici ş̧i Naturaliş̧ti din Iaş̧i
Georgiana CraciunPetronela Nechita

Abstract

Encephalitis is a brain inflammation, which could involve also the meninges. The etiology of encephalitis could be: viral, bacterial, fungal or autoimmune. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis is an immune disorder, easy to diagnose and is a treatable condition. Most patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis develop a multistage illness that progresses from psychosis, memory deficits, seizures, to catatonic state and breathing instability. We present a case report of a 20-year old woman, who presented: amnesia, visual hallucination, illusions, seizures after that occurred following autoimmune encephalitis. The exact incidence of anti-NMDAR encephalitis is unknown, but it seems to be more frequent than any other known paraneoplastic encephalitis. The present case is important considering that autoimmune encephalitis is a rare frequency disorder in Romania, with patients presenting resounding psychiatric and neurological manifestations.

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