Table 3.
Important clinical features as indicators for autoimmune involvement in adults.
| RED FLAGS |
| Aphasia, mutism, or dysarthria+ |
| Autonomic disturbance |
| Central hypoventilation |
| Decreased level of consciousness+ |
| Epileptic Seizures+ |
| Faciobrachial dystonic seizures |
| Focal neurological disease |
| Hyponatraemia (not explained by medication) |
| Infectious prodrome with fever+ |
| Movement disorder (eg, catatonia, hypo-or hyperkinetic movements)+ |
| New-onset severe headache or clinically significant change in headache pattern Adverse response to antipsychotics or antidepressants or other psychopharmacologic drugs+ |
| Optic hallucinations+ |
| Other autoimmune disorders |
| Paresthesia |
| Presence of a tumor, or history of a recent tumor+ |
| Presence of neuroleptic malignant syndrome |
| Severe otherwise not explained cognitive dysfunction+ |
| YELLOW FLAGS |
| Confusion |
| Dynamic course |
| Early resistance to therapy |
| Fluctuating psychopathology |
| Psychomotor symptoms |
Red and yellow flags are modified from Herken and Prüss (2017); DGPPN e.V. (Hrsg.) 2019, Pollak et al. (2020). Symbol: + = item classifies into probable subacute or subchronic autoimmune based psychiatric syndrome.