seizure

Autoimmune encephalitis is emerging as an important and relatively common cause of encephalitis in the developed world. Crucially, early recognition and prompt initiation of a range of immunotherapies is likely to improve the outcomes of patients with autoimmune encephalitis, particularly for those with identifiable antibodies against neuronal cell surface proteins. There are a rapidly growing number of specific autoantibodies and associated syndromes, but many of these remain very rare.

This review is based in part on Dr Hart’s lecture at the RCPE Symposium on Neurology in Edinburgh on 16 November 2011.Experience from the clinic suggests that many people equate the term ‘epilepsy’ with the occurrence of convulsions, with the corollary that attacks involving shaking are likely to be due to epilepsy.