PREVALENCE AND OUTCOMES OF AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALITIS IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN BAGUIO CITY, PHILIPPINES

INTRODUCTION: Autoimmune Encephalitis is a debilitating neurological disorder that develops as a rapidly progressive encephalopathy, occurring usually less than 6 weeks, caused by brain inflammation. There are limited data on the autoimmune cases in the locality. This study aims to determine the prevalence and outcomes of patients with Autoimmune encephalitis cases admitted in a tertiary hospital in Baguio City, Philippines. METHODOLOGY: This is a descriptive retrospective cross-sectional study that reviewed health records of patients managed as autoimmune encephalitis in a tertiary hospital from January 2015 to December 2020. Descriptive Statistics using frequencies and percentages were employed in the study. RESULTS: A total of 21 patients were included in the study, majority of which were adolescent patients, with male predominance and are residing in rural areas. The most common clinical manifestation presented were fever, behavioral changes, generalized motor seizures, orofacial and limb dyskinesias. EEG revealed abnormal results in 14 patients (66.67%). Majority of patients had normal CSF analysis, while 2 (38.1%) revealed elevated CSF protein levels. Eight patients (38.1%) tested positive for anti-NMDAR titers. Most patients had normal ultrasound and cranial CT Scan (47.62%). The length of stay was more than 2 weeks and majority (80.95%) of patients were discharged improved. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of autoimmune encephalitis is 5/10,000 pediatric population in a span of 6 years which was noted to be increasing over time. The demographic and clinical profile maybe used as predictors of outcome of autoimmune encephalitis, hence, it can help in the management of the said disease.
Keywords: autoimmune encephalitis, neurologic disorder, encephalopathy, anti-NMDAR