Acute psychiatric illness in a young woman: an unusual form of encephalitis

Kaitlyn L. Parratt, Martin Allan, Simon J. G. Lewis, Josep Dalmau, Gabor M. Halmagyi, Judith M. Spies

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A 21-year-old woman was admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of acute psychotic mania, but developed, over approximately 6 weeks, seizures, delirium, catatonia, movement disorder and autonomic dysfunction. She was found to have antibodies to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) NR1-NR2 receptors in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid, consistent with anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis, a severe, potentially lethal but treatment-responsive encephalitis often associated with ovarian tumour. With aggressive immunotherapy and bilateral oophorectomy, she recovered over a period of 14 months from her initial presentation. No ovarian tumour was identified.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)284-286
Number of pages3
JournalMedical Journal of Australia
Volume191
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Sept 2009
Externally publishedYes

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