Neuropsychological follow-up of a case of encephalitis by anti-nmda receptor

ABSTRACT

Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is an autoimmune disease with psychiatric and cognitive symptoms. Our aim is to describe the cognitive follow-up of a patient diagnosed with the disease for 4 years. The results revealed severe cognitive impairment at the initial evaluation. At 3 months, memory and executive function deficits prevailed. At 9 months, only a deficit in verbal memory was found. At 4 years, she presented a mild memory deficit. These results revealed a significant short-term cognitive deficit. Subsequently, executive functions, memory and verbal fluency recovered, while a mild deficit in verbal memory persisted.

KEYWORDS:

• Neuropsychological testing
• cognitive impairments
• anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis
• memory deficits
• cognitive decline

Acknowledgments

The selfless participation of the patient and her parents at such a difficult time in their lives is greatly appreciated.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

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