CONy 2022 | Is there a place for routine cancer testing in autoimmune encephalitis?

Friedemann Paul, MD, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany discusses common debates around autoimmune encephalitis (AE). One such controversy is the need for repeat cancer screening for patients with AE. It is well known that autoimmune encephalitis syndromes can occur in the presence or absence of cancer. On one side, it is important that underlying disorders causing AE are not overlooked. However, one must take into consideration the financial and resource strain of a broad diagnostic approach in large groups of patients. Another debate is whether all patients with psychosis should be tested for potential AE. AE causes severe neuropsychiatric symptoms and the wide variety of manifestations seen can make diagnosis challenging. This interview was conducted during the 2022 World Congress on Controversies in Neurology (CONy) meeting.