IV. Paraneoplastic Autoimmune Encephalitis

Abstract

Encephalitis is an inflammatory condition of the brain with many etiologies. There are several types of encephalitis that are immune-mediated, including the classic paraneoplastic encephalitis syndromes and the encephalitis syndromes associated with antibodies against neuronal cell surface/synaptic proteins. The latter are often referred to as autoimmune encephalitis. While the paraneoplastic encephalitis syndromes are invariably cancer-related, the autoimmune encephalitis syndromes may occur in the presence or absence of cancer. Thus, nomenclature can be confusing, as the paraneoplastic encephalitis syndromes are autoimmune, and autoimmune encephalitis may be paraneoplastic. In this topic, the term autoimmune encephalitis refers specifically to those syndromes that are associated with antibodies to neuronal cell surface/synaptic proteins.