LIMBIC ENCEPHALITIS, SPECIFICALLY DEPICTED BY PET

A 44-year-old woman suffered from limbic encephalitis, possibly caused by herpes simplex virus. Neither CT-scanning nor MR-imaging showed a persistent lesion. Positron emission tomography, however, indicated a metabolic deficit in circumscript limbic structures, namely gyrus cing uli and temporal cortices. This distribution supported the clinical di agnosis. Moreover, it suggested a close relation of the gyrus cinguli with the organization of limbic functions in the brain. It might suppo rt suggestions made in the literature that the gyrus cinguli is more f requently affected by HSV encephalitis. Further PET-studies in cases o f limbic encephalitis would be of interest.