“Everyone Thought She Was Crazy”: A Report on a Novel Approach to Diagnosing a Case of Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis

We present a unique case of a 28-year-old female patient admitted to our hospital due to altered mental status, hallucinations, agitation, impaired memory, and impaired speech. The patient had a previous psychiatric admission to another hospital but she was discharged without a definitive diagnosis. During her admission, the majority of the medical staff was under the impression she was having a psychotic event. The patient was subsequently diagnosed with N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis. Our aim is to report the clinical approach to diagnose and manage a type of autoimmune encephalitis associated with ovarian teratomas, but most importantly to teach and make awareness in the medical community of how to recognize this type of encephalitis.