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The most common type of Autoimmune Encephalitis, anti-NMDA receptor Autoimmune Encephalitis (ANMDARE) which accounts for 20% of cases, was identified in 2005.  Even though The California Encephalitis Project 2007-2011 showed this variant of autoimmune encephalitis occurred more commonly than other etiologies of encephalitis such as enterovirus encephalitis, HSV-1, West Nile Virus or Varicella zoster virus (VZV), many Emergency Department physicians are not familiar with it.  Given that it is such a newly recognized disorder; it is not yet taught in medical schools. Emergency Departments do evaluate for encephalitis and meningitis but autoimmune encephalitis often goes unrecognized.

Given the potential for Autoimmune Encephalitis to be even more common than once thought, Emergency Department Staff, would be well advised to keep autoimmune encephalitis as a differential diagnosis for patients presenting with acute psychosis or encephalitis. This may be particularly important in patients with new onset psychosis being referred to a psychiatric facility, especially if they presented with any neurological symptoms!

Autoimmune encephalitis is a treatable disease, and it responds better to early treatment. There are numerous co-hort studies and case reports of patients who demonstrated improvement immediately following immunosuppressant therapy or tumor removal.  Studies have found that favorable outcome is associated with early treatment.