[A new case of psychotic break as the presenting symptom of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Treatment from a neuropsychiatric approach].

INTRODUCTION

Limbic encephalitis generated by anti-N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antibodies is a severe acute neurological condition that is more prevalent in young females and is associated with an underlying tumour. The appearance of severe initial psychiatric signs and symptoms and the fact that it is accompanied by emotional disorders and severe cognitive impairment make it necessary to reconsider the contributions of neuropsychiatry to the diagnosis, development and treatment of the disease, since these have received little attention from researchers to date.

CASE REPORT

We report on what is, to our knowledge, the only case in Navarra, associated with an ovarian teratoma, with special attention paid to its assessment, intervention and neuropsychiatric development.

CONCLUSION

Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is a disease that is usually accompanied by predominant psychiatric manifestations at the outset of the illness, together with cognitive deterioration that commonly affects memory and the executive functions. Treatment consisting in beginning a process of rehabilitation that includes compensatory strategies for deficits, cognitive stimulation and psychopharmacological treatment in the recovery phase has proved to be effective.