Immunotherapies for Anti-N-M-methyl-D-aspartate Receptor Encephalitis: Multicenter Retrospective Pediatric Cohort Study in China

Autor: Shiqi Guang, Jiannan Ma, Xiaotun Ren, Shuizhen Zhou, Jian Yang, Jianzhao Zhang, Xiaoshuang Cao, Linxiu Zhong, Xiao Ding, Xiaosu Wang, Changhong Ren, Weihua Zhang, Linmei Zhang, Min Zhang, Jing Sun, Miriam Kessi, Fei Yin, Jing Peng, Yuwu Jiang
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Frontiers in Pediatrics, Vol 9 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2296-2360
DOI: 10.3389/fped.2021.691599
Popis: Background: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis has been discovered for more than a decade, but the establishment of standardized immunotherapy protocol for pediatric patients still needs more clinical evidence.Methods: A multicenter, retrospective study was conducted on pediatric patients diagnosed with anti-NMDAR encephalitis between November 2011 and December 2018. The clinical records including clinical manifestations, immunotherapy strategies, and outcomes were collected and analyzed.Results: A total of 386 patients were included in our study and the median onset age was 8.00 (IQR 4.83–10.90) years. All patients received first-line immunotherapy and the majority (341, 88.3%) used the standard combination of methylprednisolone pulses (MEP) and intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG), but 211 patients did not show satisfactory improvement (mRS ≥ 3). Mainly three treatment strategies were applied after first-line immunotherapy: second-line immunotherapy, repetitive first-line immunotherapy, and maintaining oral prednisolone. For patients with mRS ≥ 4 after first-line immunotherapy, the incidence of poor outcome (mRS ≥ 3) in oral prednisolone group was higher than that in other treatment groups (p = 0.039). No difference in complete recovery rate (mRS = 0) was found between patients receiving second-line and repetitive first-line immunotherapy, or patients using long-term and short-term prednisolone. Out of 149 patients who received anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody (MOG-Ab) test, 27 (18.12%) were positive. Patients with concomitantly positive MOG-Ab showed milder conditions compared to patients with typical anti-NMDAR encephalitis and were more inclined to relapses. We also identified female, MOG-Ab positive, and not receiving second-line and/or repetitive first-line immunotherapy were risk factors for relapses.Conclusions: For patients with mRS ≥ 4 after first-line immunotherapy and patients with concomitantly positive MOG-Ab, second-line immunotherapy is recommended. When second-line immunotherapy is not applicable, repetitive first-line immunotherapy can be considered as an option. Both second-line and repetitive first-line immunotherapy are beneficial to reduce relapse rate. The duration of sequential oral prednisolone can be shortened after fully evaluating patients' conditions.
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