Fig. 2

Comparison of clinical response, PDN dosage and relapse between control cohort and rituximab cohort. Detailed clinical status was evaluated by a series of AE-associated scales at baseline before treatment and continuous 4 visits (discharge, 6 months, 12 months and last follow-up) after treatment. Compared to control cohort with only first-line therapy, rituximab cohort with combination of first-line and rituximab therapy showed markedly higher percentage of “favorable clinical response” in three scales of AE, respectively, including CASE (A), mRS (B) and MMSE (C), as well as the cumulative oral dosage and time-weighted average dosage of prednisone were also significantly reduced in rituximab cohort (D and E). Moreover, compared with the percentage of relapse after total first-line treatment, it was also greatly decreased after rituximab treatment (F). In our original design, the “favorable clinical response” was defined as achievement of the CASE scores ≤ 2 or improvement of the CASE scores by ≥ 5 points, achievement of the mRS scores ≤ 2 or improvement of the mRS scores by ≥ 2 points, or achievement of the MMSE scores ≥ 27 or improvement of the MMSE scores by ≥ 10 points. CASE: the Clinical Assessment Scale for Autoimmune Encephalitis, mRS: the modified Rankin scale, MMSE: the Mini-mental State Examination, 1st visit: at discharge after treatment, 2nd visit: 6 months later, 3rd visit: 12 months later, 4th visit: last follow-up with at least > 12 months, PDN: prednisone. ****p < 0.0001