Pojen Deng, MD

Autoimmune encephalitis is an unusual but important illness mental health care providers need to be aware of. Dr Deng and Dr Yeshokumar discuss.

With adequate clinician awareness and prompt initiation of diagnostic testing and intervention, patients with autoimmune encephalitis can lead productive lives. A range of tests is described here.

This article broadly reviews the pathophysiology of the most common forms of autoimmune encephalitis and provides guidelines tailored toward mental health professionals to best identify and manage these rare but important causes of neuropsychiatric illness.