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Table 1 Diagnostic criteria of limbic encephalitis

From: Optic neuritis as the initial clinical presentation of limbic encephalitis: a case report

Diagnosis of limbic encephalitis can be made when all foura of the following criteria have been met:

  1. Subacute onset (rapid progression of less than 3 months) of working memory deficits, seizures, or psychiatric symptoms suggesting involvement of the limbic system

  2. Bilateral brain abnormalities on T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI highly restricted to the medial temporal lobes

  3. At least one of the following:

  • CSF pleocytosis (white blood cell count of more than 5 cells/mm3)

  • EEG with epileptic or slow-wave activity involving the temporal lobes

  4. Reasonable exclusion of alternative causes

  1. Abbreviations: CSF Cerebrospinal fluid, EEG Electroencephalography, MRI Magnetic resonance imaging
  2. Adapted from Graus et al. [4]
  3. aIf one of the first three criteria is not met, a diagnosis of definite limbic encephalitis can be made only with the detection of antibodies against cell surface, synaptic, or onconeural proteins