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

**Authors:** Alaa S Mohamed, Neesha Jahani, Mingyu Li, Manan Shah, Askiel Bruno, Dilip Singh

PMC · DOI: 10.7759/cureus.79517 · 2025-02-23

## 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.

## Key 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.

## Linked entities

- **Diseases:** coronavirus disease 2019 (MONDO:0100096)

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** COVID-19 (MESH:D000086382), Autoimmune Rhombencephalitis (MESH:D001327), neurological sequelae (MESH:D009422)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606], Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (no rank) [taxon 2697049]

## Figures

2 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC11936410/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC11936410