Autoimmune Encephalitis: Report of Two Pediatric Cases

Autoimmune encephalitis (AIE) with neural cell autoantibodies is a treatable category of non-viral encephalitis in children and adolescents which presents with neuropsychiatric manifestations. Anti-N-methyl- D-aspartate receptor encephalitis, the most common identified type of AIE, is more frequent than individual viral encephalitis in young patients. Early diagnosis and treatment of the disease have been associated with improvement in the majority of patients.

we report two pediatric cases with acute neuropsychiatric presentations in whom the diagnosis of AIE was proved based on the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) antineuronal antibodies in one and on clinical and paraclinical grounds in another seronegative patient. Immunotherapy in both patients resulted in improvement. No underlying tumor was found in patients. Pediatricians should be aware of manifestations, investigations, and treatment of AIE and consider it as the differential diagnosis of encephalitis.