Clinical Approach to Autoimmune Epilepsy

Autoimmune epilepsy is a newly emerging area of epilepsy. The concept of “autoimmune” as an etiology has recently been revisited thanks to advances in autoimmune encephalitis and precision medicine with immunotherapies. Autoimmune epilepsy presents with specific clinical manifestations, and various diagnostic approaches including cerebrospinal fluid analysis, neuroimaging, and autoantibody tests are essential for its differential diagnosis. The diagnosis is often indeterminate despite performing a thorough evaluation, and therefore empirical immunotherapy may be applied according to the judgment of the clinician. Autoimmune epilepsy often manifests as new-onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE). A patient classified as NORSE should receive empirical immunotherapy as soon as possible. On the other hand, a morecautious, stepwise approach is recommended for autoimmune epilepsy that presents with episodic events. The type of autoimmune epilepsy is also an important factor to consider when choosing from among various immunotherapy options. Clinicians should additionally take the characteristics of antiepileptic drugs into account when using them as an adjuvant therapy. This expert opinion discusses the diagnostic and treatment approaches for autoimmune epilepsy from a practical point of view.

A Psychiatric Side Effect of Levetiracetam Can Mimic a Relapse of Anti-Leucine-Rich Glioma Inactivated 1 Encephalitis

No abstract available.

Case of Rickettsia typhi-induced Brain Abscess Mimicking Brain Tumor

Murine typhus is one of the most prevalent rickettsial infections in the world, caused by the bacterial genus Rickettsia. Though the disease manifests a relatively benign clinical course with fever, rash, and headache being the 3 classic symptoms, neurological complications may arise in patients that could become permanent. In this case study, a patient with a brain abscess caused by R typhi infection is described. Based upon the recent reemergence of arthropod-borne disease, the findings in this case are significant; R typhi can cause a brain abscess that mimics a brain tumor, which delays the diagnosis and appropriate management of the disease. Murine typhus should always be considered when performing the differential diagnosis of brain abscesses in South Korea.

Rituximab Treatment for Idiopathic Hypertrophic Pachymeningitis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hypertrophic pachymeningitis (HP) is a rare disease caused by autoimmunity in the meninx that causes various neurologic symptoms, including headache, seizures, weakness, paresthesia, and cranial nerve palsies. Although the first-line therapy for HP is steroids, many HP cases are refractory to steroids or recur when the steroids are tapered. Here we report three HP cases that were successfully treated with rituximab (RTX). METHODS: From an institutional cohort recruited from April 2012 to July 2016, three HP cases that were identified to be steroid-refractory were treated with RTX (four weekly doses of 375 mg/m²). Clinical improvement was assessed by the number of relapses of any neurologic symptom and the largest dural thickness in MRI. RESULTS: All three patients were recurrence-free of neurologic symptoms and exhibited prominent decreases in the dural thickness after RTX treatment. No adverse events were observed in the patients. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest RTX as a second-line therapy for steroid-refractory HP. Further studies are warranted to confirm this observation in a larger population and to consider RTX as a first-line therapy.