Research

It has become apparent over the course of time in studies of autoimmune encephalitis that unfortunately some patients go on to develop epilepsy. It is a minority, but occurs in a significant percentage of patients. A new publication just out from two centers in Rome, Italy reported results from a retrospective study conducted on adult […]

Late last year a systematic review of AE syndromes, diagnosis, and treatment was published in Frontiers in Neurology by two physicians in Austria, and reviewed by physicians in Australia and the US (Mayo Clinic). We felt it may be useful as an up-to-date reference. Once again, the importance of early recognition of AE with prompt […]

A group of physicians from Germany have recently published an article in Seminars in Immunopathology, noting significant differences in the incidence of autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system in males versus females. They stated diseases such as multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica and autoimmune encephalitis are more likely to be found in females. Some examples […]

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University published a retrospective study in which they examined the PET scans of patients who had been definitively diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis over a ten-year period. They compared patients with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis with other subgroups. They found those with anti-NMDAr AE consistently showed abnormalities in the form of hypometabolism (lower […]

A study just published in the Journal of Neurology, conducted at 5 hospitals (4 Germany, 1 Austria) reported admission diagnosis in AE patients is still proving a challenge. The physicians attributed this to the fact that initial symptoms vary widely, causing the correct diagnosis to be delayed or even missed. They looked back at 50 […]

We are honored to have friends at the Encephalitis Society in the UK, who provide support for the community of people who have experienced all types of encephalitis. Chief Executive, Dr. Ava Easton, has recently published an article entitled “Treating encephalitis in primary care settings” in the Independent Nurse. She provided a summary of the […]

Physicians conducting research in Barcelona are using high-resolution microscopy and biochemical methods to unlock the secrets surrounding how anti-NMDA receptor antibodies cause disruption at the cellular level, resulting in the alteration of brain function. Dalmau and colleagues have discovered that under laboratory conditions, “NMDARs form nano-objects on the neuronal surface.” Patients with AE have developed […]

Although a majority of patients with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis make a good recovery, it can take time for patients to recover. Physicians are often looking for objective means to assess a patient’s recovery and ways to monitor for relapses. Researchers at Northwestern and Massachusetts General recently published a case study in which they used a […]

Researchers recently released a study in the journal Brain, in which they revealed interesting discoveries about the subtypes of AE associated with LGI1 and CASPR2 antibodies. There is clinical overlap between these two syndromes and, although rare, some patients present with both types of antibodies. These types of AE often present in males, typically in […]

Physicians from centers in four countries collaborated on a recent retrospective study concerning the use of mycophenolate mofetil (Cell Cept) in autoimmune/immune-mediated diseases of the central nervous system in children. A large percentage of the study population were children with autoimmune encephalitis. The authors were interested in the safety of the medication and whether children […]