Outcomes of Critically Ill Adult Patients With Acute Encephalitis

What are the long-term functional outcomes of adults with severe encephalitis, and how do recovery trajectories differ by cause of encephalitis?In this cohort study of 310 adults with probable or confirmed encephalitis, all with clear cerebrospinal fluid findings and requiring intensive care, 51.9% had an unfavorable outcome at 3 months, including mortality among 27.1% of patients. Functional outcomes remained largely unchanged at 1 year, except among patients with autoimmune encephalitis, who demonstrated improvement.In this cohort study, one-half of adult patients with severe encephalitis had a poor prognosis at 3 months, with significant variability in recovery trajectories at 1 year depending on the cause of encephalitis, suggesting a possible role for targeted long-term support in certain cases.

Corresponding Author: Romain Sonneville, MD, PhD, Service de Médecine Intensive-Réanimation, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard, 46 rue Henri Huchard, 75877 Paris Cedex, France (romain.sonneville@aphp.fr).

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