A woman who required long-term mechanical ventilation to treat limbic encephalitis during pregnancy

K Nishiyama1, M Komori, M Narushima

  • 1Department of Anesthesiology, Medical Center East, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.

We describe our experience with a woman who had severe non-herpetic acute limbic encephalitis at 20 weeks' gestation. Despite receiving mechanical ventilation for about 3 months because of impaired consciousness and frequent convulsions, she had a normal delivery and an uneventful recovery with no sequelae. The patient did not respond to treatment with antiviral agents. Anticonvulsant agents were given while monitoring plasma drug concentrations. Early treatment and the prevention of complications apparently contributed to good outcomes in the mother and child.

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