Can head trauma trigger adult-onset Rasmussen's encephalitis?

Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE) is a rare unilateral inflammatory brain disorder that causes progressive neurocognitive deterioration and refractory epilepsy including epilepsia partialis continua (EPC). We describe a patient with a unique presentation, where right upper limb EPC due to RE began within 2weeks of a concussive left frontal head injury, in a 36-year-old female without other identifiable etiology, no prior neurological deficit nor suggestion of intracranial pathology or infection, and no preceding seizures. The diagnosis of RE followed extensive investigation, excluding confounding diagnoses, with supportive histopathology, and her EPC has proven refractory to treatment. In the absence of a satisfactory alternative etiology and exclusion of differential diagnoses, the most likely cause or precipitant of this patient's RE was head trauma.