What should you know about limbic encephalitis?

• Autor(a) principal: Machado,Sara
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: Pinto,Amélia Nogueira, Irani,Sarosh R.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2012001000012
• topic: limbic autoimmune encephalitis; encephalopathy; intracellular antigens; membrane surface antigens; VGKC-complex; LGI1; CASPR2; N-methylaspartate; paraneoplastic syndrome; immunotherapy

Autoimmune encephalitis is an inflammatory disorder characterized by a subacute impairment of short-term memory, psychiatric features and seizures. It is often associated with a variety of other neurological symptoms, and its differential diagnosis is wide, leading to challenges in its recognition. It used to be regarded as a rare disease, usually paraneoplastic and with poor prognosis. However, with the recent recognition of membrane-surface directed antibodies, it is now known that in a substantial proportion of cases there is no association with any malignancy and there is a good prognosis if treated. Hence, early recognition and prompt initiation of immunotherapies are of great importance.