Late-onset Rasmussen's encephalitis in a 19-year-old adolescent
Keywords:
encephalitis, epileptic seizures, Rasmussen syndromeAbstract
Introduction: Rasmussen's encephalitis is a rare progressive neurological disease of unknown etiology. It is characterized by frequent, difficult-to-control polymorphic epileptic seizures, neurocognitive impairment, and radiological evidence of cerebral hemiatrophy, with onset in childhood and poor prognosis.
Objective: To document the clinical history of a patient with atypical onset and progression of Rasmussen's encephalitis.
Clinical case: A 19-year-old female, whose initial manifestation was behavioral disorder. Three months later, she presented progressive left hemiparesis and focal disperceptive seizures with motor symptoms, some of which could evolve into bilateral tonic clonic. Progressive cerebral hemiatrophy was observed on cranial magnetic resonance imaging. A brain biopsy was performed, which showed severe gliosis with predominance of gemastocytic astrocytes, scarce presence of retracted neurons with pyknotic nuclei, evidence of severe chronic neuronal damage, abundant microglia and perivascular inflammation of T lymphocytes, diagnosing Rasmussen's encephalitis.
Conclusions: Rasmussen's encephalitis is a rare but devastating disease. Early diagnosis and treatment are key in the evolution of patients with and increase the chances of reintegration into social life.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Leidy García Morales, Juan Carlos Padilla Reyes, Aisel santos santos, Mercedes Rita Salinas Olivares, Karenia Joglar Hernández
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