Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis

Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is a form of brain inflammation caused by the body's own immune system producing antibodies that attack NMDA receptors in the brain, first characterized as a distinct syndrome in 2007 by the neurologist Josep Dalmau and colleagues. Early symptoms often resemble a viral illness, with fever, headache and fatigue, before progressing to psychiatric features such as delusions and hallucinations, along with agitation and confusion; as the disease advances it can produce seizures, abnormal movements and dangerous disturbances of breathing, blood pressure and heart rate that may require intensive care. In roughly half of affected patients, especially young women, the disorder is associated with an underlying tumor, most commonly an ovarian teratoma, whose removal is often a key part of treatment alongside immunotherapy such as steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange. Because its psychiatric presentation can initially be mistaken for a primary psychiatric illness, recognizing the antibody-mediated autoimmune cause has become an important focus of neurological practice, and many patients who receive timely treatment recover substantially over time.