Encephalitis
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Clinic
- Inflammation of the active tissues of the brain due to viral infection or an autoimmune diseases.
- Due to its extent of entities, I prefer to explain Encephalitis as a disease rather than an Entity.
- Most important Sign/ Symptoms: Headache, Neck stiffness , Light sensitivity, Confusion and Seizures
- The most common viral encephalitis are HSV-1, HSV-2, VZV and enteroviruses, which cause gastrointestinal illness.
- Other viral causes are WNE, JE, STLE, EEE, Powassan virus, Zika virus and Chikungunya.
- Autoimmunes are classified according to the specific antibodies. Till now three of them are diagnosed
Autoimmune Types
Here I bring all of disease, which has the name of encephalitis in their name. 0So here is all disease that have an entity which is named Encephalitis
- NMDR encephalitis (Anti-NMDA receptor)
- VGKC-complex antibody encephalitis which has two subtypes LGI-1 and CASPR2.
- GABA-A and GABA-B receptors may also be targeted.
- Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM)
- Autoimmune basal ganglia encephalitis (BGE)
- Brain-stem encephalitis
- Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS)
- Bickerstaff encephalitis
- Paraneoplastic brainstem encephalitis
- Rhombencephalitis
Sign / Symptoms
- Infectious encephalitis often starts with flu-like symptoms or headache and evolves to
- Altered mental status
- Problems with thinking, remembering and reasoning.
- Other symptoms are:
- Movement disorders
- Sensitivity to sound
- Loss of consciousness
- Weakness / Partial paralysis of limbs
- Double vision
- Impairment of speech or hearing
- Excessive sleepiness
- Confusion and disorientation
- Irritability / Anxiety
- Psychosis / Hallucinations
- Cognitive impairment / Memory loss
- Behavioral changes
Encephalitis caused by certain infections or autoimmune processes can show up with characteristic symptoms.
- Déjà vu (the feeling that one is reliving something already experienced) is a common finding in early stages of herpes simplex virus encephalitis.