Autoimmune brainstem encephalitis: Clinical associations, outcomes, and proposed diagnostic criteria.

Objective: We describe neurologic phenotype, clinical associations, and outcomes in autoimmune brainstem encephalitis.

Methods: Medical records of neural-IgG positive autoimmune brainstem encephalitis patients diagnosed at Mayo Clinic (January 1, 2006-December 31, 2022) were reviewed.

Results: Ninety-eight patients (57 male) were included.

Turncoat antibodies unmasked in a model of autoimmune demyelination: from biology to therapy.

Autoantibodies contribute to many autoimmune diseases, yet there is no approved therapy to neutralize them selectively. A popular mouse model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), could serve to develop such a therapy, provided we can better understand the nature and importance of the autoantibodies involved. Here we report the discovery of autoantibody-secreting extrafollicular plasmablasts in EAE induced with specific myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antigens.

Cerebellar Involvement in Attacks of Aquaporin-4-IgG Positive Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder.

Objectives: To characterize the frequency and clinicoradiologic phenotype of cerebellar involvement in attacks of aquaporin-4-IgG positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (AQP4+NMOSD) which are incompletely captured in current diagnostic criteria.

Methods: Brain MRI scans from patients with AQP4+NMOSD in the Mayo Clinic database were reviewed, and those with cerebellar T2-hyperintense lesions ≤30 days from attack onset were included for clinical and radiologic characterization.

Results: From 432 patients with AQP4+NMOSD, we identified 17 (4%) with cerebellar attacks.

Spinal cord evaluation in multiple sclerosis: clinical and radiological associations, present and future.

Spinal cord disease is important in most people with multiple sclerosis, but assessment remains less emphasized in patient care, basic and clinical research and therapeutic trials. The North American Imaging in Multiple Sclerosis Spinal Cord Interest Group was formed to determine and present the contemporary landscape of multiple sclerosis spinal cord evaluation, further existing and advanced spinal cord imaging techniques, and foster collaborative work. Important themes arose: (i) multiple sclerosis spinal cord lesions (differential diagnosis, association with clinical course); (ii) spinal cord radiological-pathological associations; (iii) 'critical' spinal cord lesions; (iv) multiple sclerosis topographical model; (v) spinal cord atrophy; and (vi) automated and special imaging techniques.