title: Renal Cell Carcinoma Presenting with Paraneoplastic Hallucinations and Cognitive Decline from Limbic Encephalitis.
abstract: We present a 66-year-old woman with 2 months of visual hallucinations, unintentional weight loss, and short-term memory decline, whose clinical presentation and EEG supported a diagnosis of limbic encephalitis. Subsequent evaluation for a paraneoplastic etiology revealed a renal mass, which was resected and identified as clear cell renal carcinoma. The patient's clinical condition improved after resection of the mass. When patients present with incongruous subacute neuropsychiatric symptoms, clinicians should be mindful of paraneoplastic neurological disorders, as early diagnosis and treatment of malignancy may lead to symptomatic improvement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Upstate Medical University, 750 East Adams St., Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA, harrisoj@upstate.edu.
authors.forename: Joshua W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cherukuri
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Buchan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D020363:Limbic Encephalitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis