Article Text
Abstract
Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis was first reported in 2005 in four patients with ovarian teratomas; there have been many further cases reported since the antigen for the NMDAR antibody was confirmed in 2007. Patients characteristically have a well-defined set of features, characterised by psychiatric disturbance, seizures and cognitive disturbance, followed by movement disorders, disorders of consciousness and dysautonomia. To date, 14 cases of NMDAR encephalitis have been described in the context of pregnancy. We report a case of NMDAR encephalitis in a 34-year-old woman at 8 weeks’ gestation. She had a turbulent clinical course and was initially admitted to a psychiatric unit. She was successfully treated with first-line immunomodulatory therapies and surgical resection of an ovarian teratoma. Following discharge she delivered a healthy baby and made a complete clinical recovery.
- psychiatry
- obstetrics
- epilepsy
- neuroimmunology
- NMDA
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Footnotes
Contributors SK, AB and VS-C: manuscript preparation and review. CM: preparation of the figure and manuscript review.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned. Externally peer reviewed by Mike Zandi, London, UK.
Read the full text or download the PDF:
Other content recommended for you
- CSF studies which ultimately led to the possible diagnosis of anti-NMDAR encephalitis
- Rapid recovery from catastrophic paraneoplastic anti-NMDAR encephalitis secondary to an ovarian teratoma following ovarian cystectomy
- Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis in an adolescent with a cryptic ovarian teratoma
- Encephalitis on deployment in Kenya: think beyond the infections
- Anaesthetic management of a patient with a unique combination of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis and stiff-person syndrome
- Patient with concurrent anti-NMDAR autoimmune encephalitis and immature teratoma of the ovary
- Anti-NMDAR encephalitis presenting after immature teratoma resection
- Autoimmune limbic encephalitis presenting as relapsing psychosis
- Primary lateral sclerosis-like picture in a patient with a remote history of anti-N-methyl-D- aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) antibody encephalitis
- Differential expression of antibodies to NMDA receptor in anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis and in neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus