Recently, the Department of Pediatrics of Gia Dinh People's Hospital received and treated a 14-year-old girl diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis with a positive NMDA antibodies. This is a rare, easily overlooked disease, often confused with mental disorders, causing difficulties in detection and treatment.
Baby N.M.T. (born in 2011, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City), was admitted to the hospital on February 22, 2025 in a state of illusion, insomnia, cognitive and language disorders.
5 days before, the child suddenly fainted in class, but then woke up and lived normally. However, the child began to have strange actions such as crying, laughing alone at night, and speaking uncontrollably. The child's mother, when hearing her child talk about the sound of waving around her ears, was scared, thinking that the child was "ghosted". However, after further research, the family decided to take the child to the hospital for examination and treatment.
The examination results showed that baby T. was disoriented in time and space, had difficulty with simple calculations, language disorder and sleep, and hallucinations.
Clinical tests did not detect any damage on MRI, but the positive NMDA anti-receptor index in melasma fluid is an important sign of autoimmune encephalitis.
Baby T. was treated with a high dose of Methylprednisolon, gradually decreasing according to the treatment regimen. After more than two weeks of intensive treatment, the child's condition improved significantly; the child was discharged from the hospital on March 11, 2025.
On March 18, 2025, when the child was re-examined, her cognitive and communication conditions had recovered. The child's mother said that the child was able to sleep well and no longer talked alone. This proves that the autoimmune encephalitis treatment regimen has been effective.
According to doctors, autoimmune encephalitis is a serious, rare disease in which the immune system attacks nerve cells, causing encephalitis. The disease often starts with symptoms of mental illness such as hallucinations, anxiety, behavior changes... easily confused with other mental disorders, causing diagnosis to be delayed.
Dr. Vo Van Tan, Head of the Neurology Department of Gia Dinh People's Hospital, said: "Auto-immune encephalitis can seriously affect life if not treated promptly. The disease is common in women and young people, easily confused with mental disorders, causing ineffective treatment, prolonging and delaying the recovery process".
According to Dr. Pham Thi Hoang Oanh - Deputy Head of the Department of Pediatrics, Gia Dinh People's Hospital, about 30% - 50% of cases of autoimmune encephalitis have normal MRI results, such as the case of baby T. Therefore, MRI in the first week of the disease cannot rule out the diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis. When children have acute neuropathy symptoms, it is necessary to do additional in-depth tests to accurately determine the disease.
Doctors recommend that when children experience symptoms such as mental disorders, cognitive disorders, behavior or sleep, parents should take their children to a specialized medical facility for timely examination and treatment. Early detection and treatment will help improve disease prognosis and avoid unfortunate consequences, because children's mental and physical health is invaluable.
Autoimmune encephalitis, if not treated promptly, can leave serious sequelae, but with proper diagnosis and treatment, the patient can fully recover.
