title: Voltage-gated potassium channel antibody paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis associated with acute myeloid leukemia.
abstract: Among paraneoplastic syndromes (PNS) associated with malignant hemopathies, there are few reports of PNS of the central nervous system and most of them are associated with lymphomas. Limbic encephalitis is a rare neurological syndrome classically diagnosed in the context of PNS. We report the case of a 81-year-old man who presented with a relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with minimal maturation. He was admitted for confusion with unfavorable evolution as he presented a rapidly progressive dementia resulting in death. A brain magnetic resonance imaging, performed 2 months after the onset, was considered normal. An electroencephalogram showed non-specific bilateral slow waves. We received the results of the blood screening of neuronal autoanti-bodies after the patient's death and detected the presence of anti-voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) antibodies at 102 pmol/l (normal at <30 pmol/l). Other etiologic studies, including the screening for another cause of rapidly progressive dementia, were negative. To our knowledge, this is the first case of anti-VGKC paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis related to AML.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Centre Henri Becquerel, Rouen, France.
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alcantara
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bennani
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verdure
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leprêtre
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tilly
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jardin
keywords: Acute myeloid leukemia; Limbic encephalitis; Paraneoplastic syndrome
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