Caspr2 antibody-associated limbic encephalitis: contribution of visual aided analysis of 18F-FDG PET images using normal database comparison

Abstract

Early immunotherapy is of paramount importance for a positive outcome in patients suffering acute encephalitis of autoimmune origin (AIE). A new approach for early diagnosis based on clinical presentation and complementary tests has been proposed, but not all these tests show positive findings in the first weeks. While common forms of AIE (anti-LGI-1 and anti-NMDAR antibodies) exhibit consistent 18Fluor-fluorodeoxiglucose (FDG-PET) patterns in many cases, the anti-Caspr2 form of AIE is infrequent and FDG-PET patterns have not been well characterized. In our experience, FDG-PET in anti-Caspr2 limbic encephalitis shows medial temporal hypermetabolism and diffuse cortical hypometabolism, even in the absence of findings in these tests. However, it is necessary to standardize PET image analysis by means of visual and voxel-based methods compared to normal databases to define the areas of pathological metabolism that may go unnoticed when using visual analysis exclusively.

Keywords: (18)F-FDG PET/CT; (18)F-FDG PET/TC; Caspr2; Encefalitis autoinmune; Encefalitis límbica; Limbic encephalitis; autoimmune encephalitis.