McCabe D J, Burke T, Connolly S, Hutchinson M
Department of Neurology, St. Vincent's Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin, Ireland.
Neurology. 2000 Feb 8;54(3):737-9. doi: 10.1212/wnl.54.3.737.
A 25-year-old woman presented with a subacute confusional state, headaches, unsteadiness, myoclonus, seizures, and an amnesic syndrome as a manifestation of Hashimoto's encephalopathy. Investigations showed biochemical hypothyroidism, raised thyroid microsomal antibodies, and weakly positive antineuronal antibodies. A T2-weighted MRI of the brain showed bilateral symmetric areas of increased signal in the mesial temporal lobes and hippocampi that had a low signal intensity on T1-weighted imaging. Despite clinical and radiologic improvement after steroid and thyroid hormone replacement therapy, a severe amnesic syndrome with associated localized MRI abnormalities persists.