Autoimmune Rhombencephalitis as a Presentation of Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: A Case Report

TL;DR

A 31-year-old patient developed autoimmune rhombencephalitis after recovering from COVID-19 and improved with corticosteroid treatment.

Contribution

This case report presents a rare neurological complication of post-COVID-19 syndrome and suggests immunotherapy as a treatment option.

Findings

Autoimmune rhombencephalitis occurred two weeks after a confirmed case of COVID-19.

High-dose corticosteroids led to full clinical recovery without relapse.

The case supports considering post-infectious sequelae in rhombencephalitis differential diagnosis.

Abstract

There has been a multitude of neurological sequelae associated with the 2019 SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. We describe a unique case of a 31-year-old individual who developed post-infectious autoimmune rhombencephalitis approximately two weeks after testing positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Treatment with high-dose corticosteroids with four weeks of taper resulted in excellent clinical recovery without any relapse. Thus, our findings support the use of immunotherapy as a potential treatment in cases of post-COVID-19 autoimmune rhombencephalitis. Furthermore, this case highlights the importance of considering post-infectious COVID-19 sequelae as a differential diagnosis in patients presenting with rhombencephalitis in the appropriate clinical setting.

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