Rasmussen Encephalitis Presenting as a Case of Left Hemiparesis with Borderline Intellectual Disability: A Rare Case Report

Abstract Rasmussen encephalitis (RE) is one of the rarest neurological disorders and it is characterized by progressive hemiplegia, refractory epilepsy, and cognitive decline. Index individual was brought by her parents to a tertiary care hospital for the purpose of disability certification. She presented with a history of progressive gait abnormality with weakness of left upper as well as lower limbs and epilepsy since an age of 9 and 10 years, respectively. She had weakness of left upper and lower limbs which was interfering with daily activities. She was first evaluated by neurologist and based on clinical examination as well as radiological evaluation; she was diagnosed as a case of RE – late stage. She also had a history of progressive cognitive decline. She was referred to psychiatry outpatient department for psychological assessment in view of cognitive decline and she was diagnosed as a case of borderline intellectual disability. The atypical feature of this case was that she was seizure free for last 12 months without any active treatment. Parents were counseled in detail regarding the prognosis of their daughter’s neurological disorder.