Antonino Giordano1, Raffaella Fazio2, Stefano Gelibter2, Fabio Minicucci3, Marco Vabanesi2, Nicoletta Anzalone4, Giuseppe Magnani2, Massimo Filippi2, Vittorio Martinelli2. 1. Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and University Hospital, Via Olgettina 48, 20132, Milan, Italy. giordano.antonino@hsr.it. 2. Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and University Hospital, Via Olgettina 48, 20132, Milan, Italy. 3. Department of Neurophysiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and University Hospital, Milan, Italy. 4. Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and University Hospital, Milan, Italy.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Early recognition and treatment of autoimmune encephalitis (AE) are crucial for patients, but diagnosis is often difficult and time-consuming. For this purpose, a syndrome-based diagnostic approach was published by Graus et al. (Lancet Neurol 15:391-404, 2016), but very little is known in the literature about its application in clinical practice. AIM: Our aims are to test the feasibility of such approach in a real-world single-centre setting and to analyse the most relevant factors in criteria fulfilment. METHODS: We retrospectively applied these criteria to our cohort of patients discharged from our hospital with diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis (n = 33, 58% antibody-positive). RESULTS: All the subjects fulfilled criteria for possible AE (pAE), with EEG and MRI playing a central role in diagnosis, while CSF was useful mainly to rule out other conditions. Three patients respected criteria for probable anti-NMDA-R encephalitis (pNMDA). Definite anti-NMDAR encephalitis was diagnosed in 4 patients with detection of the autoantibody but, surprisingly, none of these subjects had fulfilled criteria for pNMDA. 18 patients were diagnosed with definite limbic AE (15 patients were antibody-positive, three antibody-negative). Need for MRI bilateral involvement in antibody-negative limbic AE limited diagnosis. One patient fulfilled criteria for probable antibody-negative AE, while ten patients remained classified as pAE. CONCLUSION: From our retrospective analysis, some suggestions for a better definition of the criteria may emerge. Larger studies on prospective cohorts may be more helpful to explore possible important issues.
BACKGROUND: Early recognition and treatment of autoimmune encephalitis (AE) are crucial for patients, but diagnosis is often difficult and time-consuming. For this purpose, a syndrome-based diagnostic approach was published by Graus et al. (Lancet Neurol 15:391-404, 2016), but very little is known in the literature about its application in clinical practice. AIM: Our aims are to test the feasibility of such approach in a real-world single-centre setting and to analyse the most relevant factors in criteria fulfilment. METHODS: We retrospectively applied these criteria to our cohort of patients discharged from our hospital with diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis (n = 33, 58% antibody-positive). RESULTS: All the subjects fulfilled criteria for possible AE (pAE), with EEG and MRI playing a central role in diagnosis, while CSF was useful mainly to rule out other conditions. Three patients respected criteria for probable anti-NMDA-R encephalitis (pNMDA). Definite anti-NMDAR encephalitis was diagnosed in 4 patients with detection of the autoantibody but, surprisingly, none of these subjects had fulfilled criteria for pNMDA. 18 patients were diagnosed with definite limbic AE (15 patients were antibody-positive, three antibody-negative). Need for MRI bilateral involvement in antibody-negative limbic AE limited diagnosis. One patient fulfilled criteria for probable antibody-negative AE, while ten patients remained classified as pAE. CONCLUSION: From our retrospective analysis, some suggestions for a better definition of the criteria may emerge. Larger studies on prospective cohorts may be more helpful to explore possible important issues.
Authors: Christian G Bien; Angela Vincent; Michael H Barnett; Albert J Becker; Ingmar Blümcke; Francesc Graus; Kurt A Jellinger; David E Reuss; Teresa Ribalta; Jürgen Schlegel; Ian Sutton; Hans Lassmann; Jan Bauer Journal: Brain Date: 2012-04-25 Impact factor: 13.501
Authors: Francesc Graus; Maarten J Titulaer; Ramani Balu; Susanne Benseler; Christian G Bien; Tania Cellucci; Irene Cortese; Russell C Dale; Jeffrey M Gelfand; Michael Geschwind; Carol A Glaser; Jerome Honnorat; Romana Höftberger; Takahiro Iizuka; Sarosh R Irani; Eric Lancaster; Frank Leypoldt; Harald Prüss; Alexander Rae-Grant; Markus Reindl; Myrna R Rosenfeld; Kevin Rostásy; Albert Saiz; Arun Venkatesan; Angela Vincent; Klaus-Peter Wandinger; Patrick Waters; Josep Dalmau Journal: Lancet Neurol Date: 2016-02-20 Impact factor: 44.182
Authors: Yunsong Zhao; Bin Ren; Wenjin Yu; Haijun Zhang; Di Zhao; Junchao Lv; Zhen Xie; Kun Jiang; Lei Shang; Han Yao; Yongyong Xu; Gang Zhao Journal: Neurol Ther Date: 2022-05-11