VIDEO: Hashimoto’s encephalopathy ‘underrecognized’ disorder

In this video, Heba Osman, DO, first-year internal medicine-pediatrics resident at Wayne State University and Detroit Medical Center, discusses a case report of a rare neurological condition known as Hashimoto’s encephalopathy.

The estimated prevalence of Hashimoto’s encephalopathy is about two cases per 100,000 individuals, according to Osman. The condition may be associated with thyroid autoimmunity and is responsive to steroids, so it is often referred to as steroid-responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis.

“It’s primarily a diagnosis of exclusion, but it is underrecognized because of the different manifestations of the disorder,” Osman told Healio Primary Care. “It is very important to be aware of the different clinical manifestations like seizures, tremors — you could also have delirium or rapidly progressive dementia or focal neurological deficits. So, this is sort of like your last diagnosis to keep in mind once you’ve ruled out everything else.”

The case report was scheduled to be presented at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting, but the meeting was canceled because of COVID-19. The organization posted a video of the presentation, which was recorded and submitted by the researchers. The presentation is among the winners of ACP’s 2020 National Abstracts Competition.