[Imaging of limbic paraneoplastic encephalitis]

Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis is a rare syndrome mostly associated with small cell lung cancer. We present the case of a 69-year-old man with selective amnesia suggesting limbic encephalitis. A neuroendocrine cell lung cancer was found, confirming the diagnosis of paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis. Contrast-enhanced cerebral CT was normal whether magnetic resonance imaging showed signal abnormalities of the medial part of temporal lobes and hippocampal regions. Because neurologic improvement may follow treatment of the primary tumor, early diagnosis is important.