The recent increase in autoimmune encephalitis incidence during the past decade may be largely attributable to the discovery and use of diagnostic autoantibodies.
Autoimmune encephalitis (AE), once thought to be rare, has become an increasingly recognized diagnostic entity. To examine this trend, investigators conducted a population-based study in which they determined the frequency of AE, per recent proposed clinical criteria (Lancet Neurol 2016;15:391), compared with infectious encephalitis (IE) in Olmsted County, Minnesota, from 1995 through 2015. A diagnostic code search of county medical records identified 28 patients with confirmed AE and 29 with confirmed IE.
The incidence of AE increased from 0.4 per 100,000 person-years between 1995 and 2005 to 1.2 per 100,000 person-years between 2006 and 2015 (P=0.02). The increase is attributed to improved detection of autoantibody-positive cases. Autoanti…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardAlexion Pharmaceuticals; Amgen; Astoria; Biogen; Bristol Myers Squibb; Celltrion; Genentech; Hoffmann-La Roche; Genzyme; EMD Serono; Immpact-Bio; Immunic Therapeutics; Kyverna; Lundbeck; Novartis; Sandoz; TG Therapeutics
Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health; National Multiple Sclerosis Society; U.S. Department of Defense
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesConsortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (Treasurer)
DisclosuresConsultant/Advisory BoardAlexion Pharmaceuticals; Amgen; Astoria; Biogen; Bristol Myers Squibb; Celltrion; Genentech; Hoffmann-La Roche; Genzyme; EMD Serono; Immpact-Bio; Immunic Therapeutics; Kyverna; Lundbeck; Novartis; Sandoz; TG Therapeutics
Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health; National Multiple Sclerosis Society; U.S. Department of Defense
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesConsortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (Treasurer)