Published 17 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a671
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a671

Clinical Review

Guillain-Barré syndrome

John B Winer, consultant neurologist

1 University Hospital Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TH

j.b.winer@bham.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.


Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare but important disease that can lead to life threatening respiratory failure
Structural similarities between a triggering infectious organism and peripheral nerve tissue are important in its pathogenesis
Treatment consists of rapid administration of intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange, which shortens the time to recovery
Around 10% of patients die from respiratory failure, pulmonary emboli, or infection
Around 20% of patients have residual disability, with weakness or persistent sensory disturbance


Guillain-Barré syndrome is a peripheral neuropathy that causes acute neuromuscular failure. Misdiagnosis is common and can be fatal because of the high frequency of respiratory failure, which contributes to the 10% mortality seen in prospective studies.1 Our understanding of the wide spectrum of the disease and its pathogenesis has increased enormously in recent years. Several high quality randomised controlled trials have established the effectiveness of early treatment.


I prepared this review by searching Cochrane reviews, Medline, . . . [Full text of this article]



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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Plomp, J. J., Willison, H. J. (2009). Pathophysiological actions of neuropathy-related anti-ganglioside antibodies at the neuromuscular junction. J. Physiol. 587: 3979-3999 [Abstract] [Full text]  

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