Synchronous Late-Onset of Limbic Encephalitis and Tumefactive Demyelinating Lesion After the End of Immunotherapy
Immunoreactive encephalitis is a very rare side effect of immunotherapy, which can lead to severe morbidity. Following azetolizumab, it typically occurs within 0-12 months, with a median of 15 days. In this case, immunoreactive encephalitis occurred 3.5 months after treatment with azetolizumab ended and 15.5 months after it began. Tumefactive demyelinating lesions represent a focal cerebral lesion with inflammatory demyelination. They are usually associated with multiple sclerosis, but can also occur drug-induced or in the context of autoantibody-mediated diseases. In MRI, tumefactive demyelinating lesions mimic cerebral metastases. 18F-FDG PET/CT can enhance the diagnostic precision of both immunoreactive encephalitis and tumefactive demyelinating lesions.
Authors
- Jan Borggrefe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2908-7560)
- Alexey Surov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9273-3943)
- Marcel Baehr
- Peter D. Schellinger
Institutions
- Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology (PL)
- Johannes Wesling Klinikum Minden (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Clinical Nuclear Medicine
- Published
- 2026-06-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1097/rlu.0000000000006535
- Primary Topic
- Autoimmune Neurological Disorders and Treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00