Refractory epilepsy surgery, and the paradox of autoimmune encephalitis - live from the ABN Meeting 2026

In this special episode coming live from the Association of British Neurologists (ABN) annual meeting in Birmingham, Practical Neurology co-editors Phil Smith and Geraint Fuller join hosts Ruth Wood and Babak Soleimani to discuss the perennial clinical and educational value of case reports in which, in a rare event, the patients are actually referred to directly by their first names. The team discusses two compelling, patient-centered narratives. They look at a complex case of refractory focal epilepsy from 2024 where the patient actively partnered in the high-stakes decision to balance seizure freedom against a predicted post-surgical motor deficit.  A review of a poignant "Me and My Neurological Illness" piece written in 2016 by a prominent epileptologist is a reflection on his subtle subacute presentation of autoimmune encephalitis,  how a doctor's baseline cognitive reserve can mask complex focal seizures, and the unique clinical and personal challenges faced when dealing with medical colleagues who lack diagnostic insight into their own condition. Archive papers discussed in this episode: Case Report 1: Complicated epilepsy surgery: importance of balancing benefit and deficit. https://pn.bmj.com/content/24/5/393 Case Report 2: Me and my neurological illness. Autoimmune limbic encephalitis due to VGKC-Ab. Thanks for the memory. Leo Robin (Title of song, 1937).  https://pn.bmj.com/content/16/2/162   Read the full papers on Practical Neurology.   Please subscribe to the Practical Neurology podcast on your favourite platform to get the latest episodes. If you enjoy our podcast, you can leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3vVPClm) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/4baxjsQ). We'd love to hear your feedback on social media - @PracticalNeurol. Production and editing by Brian O'Toole, Letícia Amorim and Pritesh Kapadia. Thank you for listening.