Rasmussen's Encephalitis: A Rare Cause of Intractable Seizures

Abstract

Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE) is a rare chronic progressive inflammatory disease of the brain that results in difficult-to-control seizures (mostly focal: epilepsia partialis continua), cognitive decline and progressive loss of neurological function including speech, motor skills with eventual paralysis of one half of the body (hemiparesis) and encephalitis. It is a disease that usually affects a single hemisphere and presents commonly at an early age. It poses a lot of challenges, both in diagnosis as well as treatment. We report a case consistent with the findings of RE in a 4.5-year male child, who presented with status epilepticus; and was diagnosed as a case of RE on clinical and radiological findings. Key Words: Rasmussen's encephalitis, Inflammatory disease, Seizures, Cognitive decline, Hemiparesis.