title: [Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis: 2 pediatric cases].
abstract: The term "paraneoplastic neurologic disorders" refers to a group of syndromes mediated by immune responses triggered by tumors that express neuronal proteins or by immunological disturbances caused by the tumor. In most cases, limbic encephalitis is a disorder of adulthood, particularly in association with small-cell lung cancer or a testicular germ-cell tumor. The clinical picture of this disorder includes anxiety, depression, confusion, delirium, hallucinations, short-term memory loss and sometimes seizures. We report on 2 new pediatric cases from a single hospital: in the first case, limbic encephalitis revealed Hodgkin lymphoma; it heralded meningeal relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the other. Despite its extreme rarity, this syndrome is a possible diagnosis in childhood.
authors.affiliation: Unité d'onco-hématologie pédiatrique, service de pédiatrie, CHU de Saint-Étienne, avenue Albert-Raymond, 42055 Saint-Étienne cedex 2, France. juliemollier@hotmail.fr
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mollier-Saliner
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thouvenin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Darteyre
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jaziri
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vasselon
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Convers
authors.forename: J-L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Stephan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020363:Limbic Encephalitis / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male