Educational scope notice: This is a study note for medical students, not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment guidance. Clinical management should follow local protocols and current guidelines.
Autoimmune encephalitis means inflammation of the brain caused by an immune attack on neuronal proteins. It develops over days to weeks, and because the early picture overlaps with infectious encephalitis, both are investigated together from the start.
Choose a route through the topic
- Pathophysiology explains why the antibody target changes the tumour risk and the response to treatment.
- Clinical Patterns describes the recognizable syndromes and the tempo that separates them from mimics.
- Diagnosis explains how brain imaging, spinal fluid analysis, EEG, antibody testing, and tumour screening fit together.
- Treatment explains the reasoning behind starting immunotherapy early, stepping it up when needed, and treating any driving tumour alongside.
Start with pathophysiology if the antibody classes are new, otherwise begin with the clinical patterns. Diagnosis follows the patterns, and treatment comes last.
Evidence anchors
- Graus F, et al. A clinical approach to diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis. Lancet Neurol. 2016: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26906964/
- Dalmau J, Geis C, Graus F. Autoantibodies to synaptic receptors and neuronal cell surface proteins in autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system. Physiol Rev. 2017: https://journals.physiology.org/doi/10.1152/physrev.00010.2016
- Graus F, et al. Updated diagnostic criteria for paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes. Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm. 2021: https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/NXI.0000000000001014