Introduction
Materials and methods
Design, study population and setting
Participants
Case definitions
Index test
Score elements | Points | |
---|---|---|
Score element | ||
Present = 1 | Absent = 0 | |
Charlson comorbidity index < 2 | 0–1 | |
Subacute (6–30 d) to chronic (> 30 d) onset | 0–1 | |
Psychiatric and/or memory complaints | 0–1 | |
Absence of robust inflammation in CSF (WBC < 50/μL and protein < 50 mg/dL) | 0–1 | |
Accumulated score | 0–4 | |
Risk categoriesa | ||
Low risk | 0–1 | |
Intermediate risk | 2–3 | |
High risk | 4 |
Statistical methods
Ethical statement
Results
Descriptive data
The AE and VE cohorts
Autoimmune, n = 90 | Viral, n = 287 | Presumed infectious, n = 119 | P valuesa | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Age, mean (SD) | 45 (23.6) | 68 (16.5) | 57(19.7) | < 0.001a |
Female, n (%) | 47 (52) | 149 (52) | 51(43) | > 0.9a |
Diagnoses, n (%) | ||||
Autoimmune | ||||
NMDAR | 58 (64) | – | – | – |
LGI1 | 23 (26) | – | – | – |
GABA-B | 6 (7) | – | – | – |
AMPAR | 3 (3) | – | – | – |
Viral | ||||
HSV1 | – | 126 (44) | – | – |
VZV | – | 122 (43) | – | – |
TBE | – | 20 (7) | – | – |
HSV2 | – | 12 (4) | – | – |
HIV | – | 5 (2) | – | – |
EBV | – | 2 (1) | – | – |
The PIE cohort
Main results
Score | Sensitivity | Specificity | PPV | NPV |
---|---|---|---|---|
0 | 100% | 0% | 24% | 0% |
1 | 100% | 56% | 35% | 100% |
2 | 92% | 85% | 66% | 97% |
3 | 69% | 97% | 87% | 91% |
4 | 23% | 100% | 100% | 81% |
Autoimmune, n = 90 | Viral, n = 287 | Presumed infectious, n = 119 | p valuesa | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Score elements, n (%) | ||||
CCI < 2 | 50 (56) | 47 (16) | 51(43) | 0.005 |
Subacute onseta | 67 (74) | 33 (11) | 29(24) | < 0.001 |
Psychiatric and/or memory complaints | 87 (97) | 48 (17) | 33(28) | < 0.001 |
Absence of robust inflammation in CSFb | 52 (58) | 90 (31) | 33(28) | 0.004 |
Sum of score, n (%) | ||||
0 | 0 (0) | 121 (42) | 28(24) | < 0.001 |
1 | 7 (8) | 124 (43) | 45(38) | < 0.001 |
2 | 21(23) | 33 (11) | 37(31) | 0.045 |
3 | 41 (46) | 9 (3) | 9(8) | < 0.001 |
4 | 21 (23) | 0 (0) | 0(0) | < 0.001 |
Risk categories, n (%) | ||||
Low (0–1) | 7 (8) | 245 (85) | 73(61) | < 0.001 |
Intermediate (2–3) | 62 (69) | 42 (15) | 46(39) | – |
High (4) | 21 (23) | 0 (0) | 0(0) | < 0.001 |