Analysis and discussion of the rare complication of autoimmune encephalitis: Two case reports

Autoimmune encephalitis related to many antibodies against neuronal cell surface or synaptic proteins, it is increasingly recognized as the cause of a variety of neuropsychiatric syndromes.

The two pediatric cases were about autoimmune encephalitis with rare complication. One patient was a 11-year-old girl and was diagnosed with Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel complex (VGKC) antibody-mediated encephalitis with rhabdomyolysis; the other was also a 11-year-old girl and was diagnosed with anti- N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis.

Both patients were diagnosed as autoimmune encephalitis with rare complication.

Intravenous methylprednisolone, oral prednisone and intravenous immunoglobulin was administered to both patients.

One patient was discharged after a half month's hospitalization; the other was finally with intestinal function failure, gradually developed multiple organ failure, and eventually died.

The pathogenic mechanism of autoimmune encephalitis associated with autoimmune disease is not fully understood, but may be related to a common immune pathological mechanism with variance in susceptibility caused by genetic or environmental factors.