This is the first of a 5-part Speaker Series celebrating Autoimmune Encephalitis Awareness Month 2024 hosted by IAES and sponsored by UCB.
Dr. Gombolay begins her presentation with an overview of how Autoimmune Encephalitis is diagnosed, the many disorders that mimic the presentation, and the various antibody tests conducted. She takes us on a deep dive of the treatments. Reviews what each treatment does, the expected response time for treatments and when treatments should be escalated. Supportive medications for symptoms are reviewed. These are used until the treatment for the patient’s AE has reached full effect and then are slowly peeled off.
A question-and-answer session follows the presentation.
Grace Gombolay, MD, is the Director of the Pediatric Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at Emory University School of Medicine/Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. She is a Pediatric Neurologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and an Assistant Professor at Emory University School of Medicine. She started the Pediatric Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis Clinic. This multidisciplinary clinic helps manage all aspects of patient care, including medical, psychological, and school-related issues. Her goal is to have the clinic become part of multi-center collaborations for clinical care and research. Dr. Gombolay strives to provide excellent clinical care to patients while studying the mechanisms in the immune system that result in disease and ways to modify disease.
Autoimmune Encephalitis is a group of inflammatory brain diseases that are characterized by prominent neuropsychiatric symptoms. These patients are often believed to have psychiatric presentations, but they do NOT. Common clinical features include a change in behavior, psychosis, seizures, memory, and cognitive deficits, abnormal movements, dysautonomia, and a decreased level of consciousness. Psychiatrists and Emergency Room Physicians are often the first medical professionals who see these patients. Clinicians must consider the possibility of an autoantibody-related etiology and become familiar with the red flags suggestive of synaptic autoimmunity as the underlying cause in all cases of first-onset, out-of-the-blue psychosis. A high level of suspicion is necessary as autoimmune encephalitis is treatable with immunotherapy. Firm evidence shows that earlier recognition and treatment lead to improved outcomes. It is important to note, that the disorder is refractory to antipsychotics; indeed, antipsychotic agents make affected patients much worse, even to the point of developing something akin to neuroleptic malignant syndrome.
The International Autoimmune Encephalitis Society, (IAES), is the only Family/Patient-centered organization for people with a diagnosis of Autoimmune Encephalitis. Leading with integrity, IAES strives to advance services, advocacy, education, awareness, and research for this group of diseases. IAES provides science-based information backed by trusted medical experts in the field of autoimmune neurology and relies on the expertise of our Medical Advisory Board. We are an established non-profit organization with a history of providing all-inclusive services from diagnosis to recovery and the many challenges experienced in one’s AE journey.
Visit our website: www.autoimmune-encephalitis.org
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