Many people suffer from a rare, potentially fatal form of autoimmune encephalitis.

MNDAR autoimmune encephalitis requires a relatively long treatment period, employing many advanced techniques such as mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal hemodialysis... therefore, the average treatment cost reaches 1 billion VND per case.

Doctors at Cho Ray Hospital are treating a patient with autoimmune encephalitis (MNDAR).

In just the past 18 months, Cho Ray Hospital has admitted 17 cases of NMDAR autoimmune encephalitis – a rare and dangerous disease that can be fatal. Notably, approximately 50% of the female patients with this disease have a history of ovarian teratoma.

This information was shared by doctors at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on July 2nd.

According to Dr. Le Quoc Hung, Head of the Department of Tropical Diseases at Cho Ray Hospital, the unit recently admitted a 17-year-old female patient who was experiencing seizures and coma. The patient was diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis NMDAR.

Previously, this female patient was diagnosed with an ovarian teratoma at Hung Vuong Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. However, because the patient was still a student, her family thought it was a normal tumor and did not immediately proceed with surgery to remove it.

After some time, the patient began having seizures, fell into a coma, and was taken to Cho Ray Hospital. At Cho Ray Hospital, doctors diagnosed the patient with autoimmune encephalitis (NMDAR). The patient underwent plasma exchange, extracorporeal hemodialysis, and three surgeries to remove ovarian tumors. The patient has passed the critical stage and is gradually improving, but is still under observation and treatment.

Besides the above case, from 2023 to the present, Cho Ray Hospital has received 16 other cases of autoimmune encephalitis (NMDAR), including 12 female patients. Most patients were very young, with an average age of only 23.

Doctors believe this is a rare but extremely dangerous disease that can be fatal if not properly diagnosed and treated promptly.

Of the 17 patients treated at Cho Ray Hospital over the past 18 months, 9 have recovered and 4 have died. Currently, Cho Ray Hospital is treating 4 patients.

A patient with MNDAR autoimmune encephalitis is being treated at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Prior to Cho Ray Hospital, in 2015 and 2016, the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases also reported 9 cases of patients with autoimmune encephalitis (NMDAR). These cases were all transferred from psychiatric hospitals, and only 4 cases fully recovered.

According to Dr. Le Quoc Hung, the symptoms of autoimmune encephalitis NMDAR include abnormal behavior, language dysfunction, seizures, motor disorders, perceptual disturbances, lethargy, confusion, and coma. Therefore, at the onset of the disease, patients are often misdiagnosed with mental illness.

The autoimmune encephalitis NMDAR was first discovered worldwide in 2007 and currently has approximately 1,500 recorded cases.

In Vietnam, in recent years, a number of cases have begun to be recorded and treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases. At Cho Ray Hospital alone, from 2023 to the present, 17 cases have been recorded, most commonly seen in young women with ovarian teratoma.

Because the disease is easily confused with other mental illnesses, many cases are misdiagnosed, and by the time patients are transferred to Cho Ray Hospital, they are in a severe condition, in a coma, making treatment difficult and complicated.

According to Dr. Le Quoc Hung, autoimmune encephalitis (MNDAR) requires a relatively long treatment period, employing many advanced techniques such as mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal hemodialysis, plasma exchange, and tumor surgery... therefore, the average treatment cost reaches 1 billion VND per case.

Notably, among the cases admitted to Cho Ray Hospital, doctors discovered that 6 patients (accounting for 50% of the total number of female patients) had ovarian teratoma (a complex ovarian dermoid cyst that develops from epithelial tissue in the embryo).

According to doctors, ovarian teratoma contains neurogenic tissue buffer systems. When there is abnormal activity, these buffer systems produce antibodies against brain receptors, causing damage to the nervous system and leading to encephalitis.

Therefore, Dr. Hung advises that women with ovarian teratoma should be vigilant for symptoms of autoimmune encephalitis (MNDAR) so that they can be taken to a specialized medical facility for timely treatment, avoiding the risk of death.

According to Vietnamplus

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/nhieu-nguoi-mac-benh-viem-nao-tu-mien-hiem-gap-nguy-co-tu-vong-cao-post386267.html