Encephalitis

Clinic

• Inflammation of the active tissues of the brain due to an 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
• Classically there are two kind of encephalitis, Viral and Autoimmunes.
• 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. I Know there are ambiguities in this field. Considering Encephalitis as a group of different disease, that are common in inflammation of Contents of the skull, could help us to know it more

• 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

• LGI1 encephalitis

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.