Possible autoantibody-negative limbic encephalitis after anterior temporal lobectomy for hippocampal sclerosis

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Amnestic syndromes are acknowledged to be associated to bilateral hippocampal damage.

Materials and methods: We briefly report the case of a young man who underwent anterior left temporal lobectomy for a medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy due to hippocampal sclerosis with an excellent seizure and neuropsychological outcome. Approximately 10 years later, he presented with a subacute severe global amnesia and neuroimaging findings of a damage involving the contralateral mesial temporal lobe structures.

Results: A diagnosis of a possible autoimmune encephalitis was made.

Conclusions: Due to its peculiarities (compared with other cases of bilateral temporal lesions, the damage occurred on two distinct occasions), this case might contribute to shed light on the issue of the possible contralateral reorganization of memory processes subserved by the mesial temporal lobe structures chronically involved in epileptogenesis.

KEYWORDS:

• Temporal lobe epilepsy
• limbic encephalitis
• memory
• anterior temporal lobectomy
• global amnesia

Disclosure statement

None of the authors have any conflict of interest to disclose.

Informed consent

Consent from the patient has been obtained.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.