Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis: diagnostic relevance of CSF analysis and total body PET scanning.
We report two cases of paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis (PLE) that differed in their clinical patterns, the underlying tumours, and the associated paraneoplastic antibodies. The first patient was a young adult male, with anti-MA-2 antibodies and testicular tumour. The clinical picture was restricted to limbic involvement. The second patient was a 56-year old, female heavy smoker; with seizures and depression, but also vertigo and diplopia. A low level of serum anti-Hu antibodies led to the detection of a small cell lung carcinoma by total body PET-scanning. In both cases, intrathecal synthesis of CSF oligoclonal IgG bands and of the corresponding paraneoplastic antibodies was demonstrated.
Dreessen
J
J
Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Neurochemistry, Université catholique de Louvain et Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Avenue Hippocrate 10, 1200 Brussels.
Jeanjean
A P
AP
Sindic
C J M
CJ
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020363:Limbic Encephalitis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*