Search

BackgroundThere is mounting evidence suggesting that autoimmune encephalitis (AE) can be observed as a neurological complication in patients with COVID-19. This review aimed to summarize the clinical manifestations, types, and outcomes of COVID-19-associated AE.MethodsA systematic search was conducted in the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases to identify case reports and case series related to COVID-19-associated AE from 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2023. After a thorough screening and evaluation, irrelevant articles were excluded. Relevant information concerning types, clinical manifestations, and outcomes was extracted and synthesized.ResultsA total of 37 studies, comprising 34 case reports and 3 case series, were included in this review. Among the 42 COVID-19-associated AE patients, 21 (50%) cases were classified as an unknown antibodies (Ab) type of COVID-19-associated AE, 10 (23.80%) cases as anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) encephalitis, 4 (9.5%) cases as limbic encephalitis, and 3 (7.1%) cases as anti-myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein encephalitis, along with other rare types of AE. Disturbance of consciousness, seizures, and psychiatric symptoms were identified as the main clinical manifestations of COVID-19-associated AE. While the symptoms of AE displayed variation, most patients achieved full recovery although a few experienced residual symptoms of neurological damage.ConclusionThis systematic review comprehensively describes the characteristics of COVID-19-associated AE. The main type of COVID-19-associated AE identified in this study is an unknown Ab type of COVID-19-associated AE. Despite the potentially life-threatening risks of COVID-19-associated AE, the majority of patients survived, with some patients reporting residual neurological symptoms.

BackgroundAlthough more and more clinical studies have shown that acupuncture as an auxiliary combined with Western medicine is effective in the treatment of patients with epilepsy, no systematic reviews of acupuncture as a treatment for epilepsy have been published. Hence, we conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of acupuncture treatment on patients with epilepsy.MethodsThis study retrieved randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture treatment for epilepsy from various electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, and Wangfang database. These studies evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture as an auxiliary treatment combined with Western medicine for patients with epilepsy. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.ResultsA total of 17 RCTs involving a total of 1,389 participants were included. The results showed that acupuncture combined with Western medicine improved the effective rates of treatment (OR: 4.28; 95% CI: 3.04–6.02; p