Hypothetical Case:

A gynaecologist contacts you as the duty anesthetist to book an emergency laparoscopic oophorectomy. They tell you that the patient is a young woman who is currently intubated and ventilated on the intensive care unit after presenting 2 days earlier with a complex neurological syndrome, complicated by seizures requiring intubation. The surgeon tells you the ICU team have done some investigations, including an ultrasound demonstrating a complex ovarian mass, and CSF on a lumbar puncture positive for anti-NMDA receptor antibodies.

What is Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis? Why is it associated with gynaecology? When & how was it first discovered?

Join Graeme and I as we discuss the ins/outs of this fascinating condition and share a few personal anecdotes of patient’s we have encountered with this project.

LINKS

Pregnancy outcomes in anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis

Acute psychiatric illness in a young woman: an unusual form of encephalitis MJA 2009

Josep Dalmau: exploring the paraneoplastic syndromes

An update on anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis for neurologists and psychiatrists: mechanisms and models