Frontiers in Neurology (Jan 2022)

Case Report: Triphasic Waves in a 9-Year-Old Girl With Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis

  • Ke Zhang,
  • Shuang Xu,
  • Yalan Zhou,
  • Tangfeng Su

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2022.819209
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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BackgroundTriphasic waves (TWs) are mainly described in association with metabolic encephalopathy, especially hepatic encephalopathy. Now, as different conditions including non-metabolic and structural abnormalities have been reported to be associated with TWs, the presence of TWs becomes a non-specific finding for metabolic encephalopathy.Case PresentationWe report the first case of anti-NMDAR encephalitis in a 9-year-old girl presenting with TWs on EEG. The TWs background EEG lasted for about 12 h on the 40th day of the disease course. No epileptic wave was found during a series of EEG examinations. The child was discharged from the hospital and no neurological sequelae remained after a six-month follow-up.ConclusionsTWs are not specific to metabolic encephalopathy, but can also occur in children with autoimmune encephalitis. This case achieved a good prognosis after the early initiation of immunotherapy.

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