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Nwabuobi et al. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2017;4:117-23 Neuroimmunology and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-8659.2016.53
Neuroinflammation

www.nnjournal.net
Case Report Open Access

Thymoma-associated panencephalitis: a

newly emerging paraneoplastic neurologic

syndrome

Lynda Adaobi Nwabuobi, Jacob Christian Pellinen, Thomas Mark Wisniewski

Department of Neurology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Correspondence to: Dr. Lynda Adaobi Nwabuobi, Department of Neurology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York University School of
Medicine, 550 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA. E-mail: lynda.nwabuobi@med.nyu.edu
How to cite this article: Nwabuobi LA, Pellinen JC, Wisniewski TM. Thymoma-associated panencephalitis: a newly emerging paraneoplastic
neurologic syndrome. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2017;4:117-23.

Dr. Lynda Adaobi Nwabuobi is an adult neurology resident at NYU School of Medicine. Her clinical interests include
Parkinson’s disease, neurological autoimmune and paraneoplastic syndromes, global health and health care
disparities. She plans to pursue a fellowship in Movement Disorders. At the age of 12, she emigrated from Nigeria
with her family and currently resides in New York. She enjoys visiting art museums, fine dining and spending time
with her family.

ABSTRACT
Article history: Recently, a few case reports of thymoma-associated panencephalitis (TAPE) have brought to
Received: 29-11-2016 light a disease entity that has not been fully characterized. Literature review of TAPE reveals
Accepted: 22-03-2017 an array of associated neuronal antibodies, with varied responses to thymomectomy with or
Published: 16-06-2017 without immunotherapy. This report describes a case of TAPE and proposes that the GABA
A
receptor antibody is a potential target antigen driving the immune process in this disease entity.
Key words: Treatment-wise, early thymomectomy consistently improves the overall course of disease.
Immunology, Further study of such cases will be critical in clarifying the mechanisms of disease, improving
autoimmune diseases, early diagnosis, and developing targeted approaches to treatment.
encephalitis,
thymoma,
paraneoplastic syndrome

INTRODUCTION neuronal antigens, many of which clinical pathogenicity
have not been established. [1,2] Quite rarely, thymomas
Thymomas are often associated with paraneoplastic have been associated with limbic encephalitis, a well-
neurologic syndromes (PNS) as they have the characterized neurological syndrome that presents
propensity to express different autoantibodies against with memory impairment, behavioral changes, and

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