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Woman escapes web of madness, helps educate others

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Kiera Echols takes her father’s hand as David Givens talks about how hard it was to see his daughter in the condition she was in.

Staff photo by Bill Lackey Kiera Echols takes her father’s hand as David Givens talks about how hard it was to see his daughter in the condition she was in.

By Bridgette Outten, Staff Writer Updated 8:57 AM Monday, March 15, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — Last November, Kiera Echols was in hell.

Goblins. Demons with red eyes. A room that should be still was moving; a picture that should be silent was talking.

It seemed as if the 22-year-old had gone mad. Her family was advised to institutionalize her.

But Echols’ parents, David and Chellie Givens, and her husband, Mike, couldn’t reconcile this delusional, incoherent person with the strong, motivated Kiera they knew.

Chellie Givens demanded a second opinion — a move that saved Echols’ life and possibly her sanity.

Her delusions were caused by a recently discovered disease known as autoimmune encephalitis, identified in 2007 by a doctor named Josep Dalmau, a neurologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Echols had the third confirmed case of anti-NMDA receptor antibody encephalitis at the University of Cincinnati Neurology service in 2009.

Her encephalitis was triggered by a common, usually benign tumor on her ovaries called a teratoma.

The immune system produces antibodies that attack not only the tumor cells but cells on the brain as well, causing psychosis that is often misdiagnosed as the result of drug abuse or mental disorders.

Dr. Chris Kobet, a UC neurology resident, who treated Echols, said new cases are turning up every day.

“This is a treatable condition,” Kobet said. “That’s why it’s important to get this news out as soon as possible, so doctors around the world know about it.”

After having her teratoma removed from her ovaries, Echols is almost 100 percent recovered.

Echols’ case has been entered in the 2010 Neuro Film Festival, sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology Foundation.

Viewers have until Wednesday, March 17, to watch the video on YouTube.

The film could receive the Fan Favorite Award, winning $500 and a viewing at the Toronto festival in April to raise awareness about the disease.

The video shows a mumbling, clearly disturbed Echols — images that frightened her when she watched.

“I know that it wasn’t me, and I couldn’t control it,” Echols said quietly. “But it was ... it was a little scary.”

Kiera Echols consented to have her case discussed in a YouTube video that her physician, Dr. Chris Kobet, has entered in the 2010 Neuro Film Festival sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology Foundation.

View the video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/neurofilmfest#p/c/B90313F0D99F14F8/52/dcd8_1CooZ8.

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