Rasmussen Encephalitis: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Rasmussen encephalitis (RE), also called Rasmussen syndrome, is a rare, progressive, chronic encephalitis affecting one hemisphere of the brain. It occurs mainly in children. However, around 10% of all cases are adolescents and adults. RE occurs usually in healthy individuals. It is estimated that no more than two new cases per year are identified in large epilepsy centers. Rasmussen’s encephalitis is characterized by intractable focal seizures, often in the form of epilepsia partialis continua (EPC) with motor and cognitive deterioration. Neuroimaging shows the progressive damage of the affected hemisphere, and histopathology is consistent with a T-cell dominated encephalitis with activated microglial cells and reactive astrogliosis. Cerebral hemispherectomy remains the only cure for seizures, but there are inevitable functional compromises. We report the rare case of an 8-year-old girl without any clinical history presented with recent left hemiparesis and seizures, and whose investigations based on the brain MRI and Electroencephalogram data, conducted to the diagnosis of Rasmussen’s encephalitis. Our management was exclusively medical, with a good outcome.