Age and Ageing Advance Access originally published online on June 8, 2006
Age and Ageing 2006 35(5):536-537; doi:10.1093/ageing/afl045
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Autoimmune limbic encephalitis causing fits, rapidly progressive confusion and hyponatraemia
1 West Heath Hospital, Rednal Road, West Heath, Birmingham B38 8 HR, UK
2 Neurosciences Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK
Address correspondence to: Edmund James Dunstan. Tel: (+44) 0121 627 1627. Fax: (+44) 0121 627 8282. Email: edmund.dunstan{at}uhb.nhs.uk
Abstract
A 78-year-old woman presented with a short history of confusion and seizures and was found to be hyponatraemic. Routine investigations failed to find a cause. Magnetic resonance imaging showed encephalitic changes in the temporal lobes, and voltage-gated potassium-channel antibodies were found in her blood in high titre. Although rare, this condition is important because it may respond to immunosuppression.
Keywords: encephalitis, hyponatraemia, voltage-gated potassium-channel antibodies, elderly