Sub-Acute Encephalitis: Behavioural and Neurological Aspects

Abstract

Behavioural symptoms suggestive of the so-called functional psychiatric disorders are often observed during the course of sub-acute or chronic encephalitides, particularly sub-acute sclerosing panencephalitis. This has been regarded as an invariably fatal neurological illness, but Cobb et al. (1) have recently presented two non-fatal cases and have drawn attention to rare scattered reports of others, some with behavioural disorders. We have therefore made a survey of cases of sub-acute encephalitis at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, especially noting their behavioural aspects.