Limbic Encephalitis Associated With Elevated Antithyroid Antibodies

Abstract

Immune-mediated limbic encephalitis affects both adults and children. Patients typically present with seizures, memory problems, and imaging changes in the medial temporal lobes. Both paraneoplastic and nonparaneoplastic forms have been described in which the antibody to the voltage-gated potassium channel-complex associated protein, leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1, is most commonly reported. Elevated antithyroid antibodies have also been reported in a range of neurological syndromes with encephalopathy, such as limbic encephalitis, often collectively termed Hashimoto encephalopathy, a condition whereby corticosteroids responsiveness with a complete recovery is commonly observed. Here we describe 3 children presenting with limbic encephalitis with elevated thyroid antibodies that did not respond to corticosteroids alone and required more aggressive immunotherapy, mirroring the slower treatment response that is more frequently seen in other immune-mediated forms of limbic encephalitis.