Guillain Barre Syndrome

• Guillain Barre Syndrome:

  • Prevalence 0.5 - 4 per 100000 population
  • Acute disease, not chronic, unlike DMD
  • due to immune response to foreign agents (usually infectious agents) and then body owns immune response is mistargeted at own host cells instead of foreign antigen
  • Respiratory tract or gastric infection often precedes the onset of symptoms
  • Immunisation and surgery may also be precipitating factors
  • Autoimmune disorder affecting the peripheral nerves
• Guillain Barre Syndrome:

  • Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
  • Begins with lower limb weakness and progresses proximally
  • Can affect peripheral nerves of: lower limb, upper limb, trunk and facial muscles
  • Time from onset to peak disability is less than 4 weeks
  • Recovery has the potential to be complete
  • treated with immunoglobulin therapy