Short-term outcome of Guillain-Barré syndrome: Tertiary centre experience

Abstract

Introduction: Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is an acute autoimmune disorder of peripheral nerves and their roots. The most common GBS variants are: acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN), acute motor and sensory axonal neuropathy (AMSAN), Miller-Fisher syndrome (MFS) and other rarer variants. Aim: Evaluation of frequency of GBS variants and analysis of the outcome of the disease in a cohort of patients hospitalized at the Neurology Clinic, Clinical Center of Serbia. Material and Methods: This study included 43 patients with GBS, hospitalized in 2015. The data about clinical characteristics of the disease were collected by a retrospective analysis from electronic medical record. We used methods of descriptive statistics: mean, standard deviation and proportions. Results: Majority of our patients were male with male to female ratio 2.6 : 1. The most common variant in our study was AIDP (41.9%), then AMSAN (7.0%) and AMAN (4.7%). The most common first symptoms of the disease were weakness and numbness in the legs (18.6%). According to the Hughes scale, at admission, most of the patients had a mild form of the disease (65.1%), while at nadir 62.8% were non ambulatory, and 2.3% of patients required assisted ventilation. The outcome of the disease was favorable in 74.4% of patients, while 11 patients (25.6%) had a significant functional disability on discharge. In (4.7%) 2 patients of our cohort, lethal outcome was recorded. Conclusion: GBS is a rapidly progressive, monophasic disease, which has a generally good prognosis today, thanks to modern therapy. Our further research will be focused on the long-term outcome of GBS.