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Fatal Guillain-Barré syndrome

From the Department of Neurology (Neurological-Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit, Saint Mary’s Hospital), Mayo Medical Center, Rochester, MN.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. E.F.M. Wijdicks, Department of Neurology (W8A), Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, MN 55905.

Fourteen of 320 patients (4%) admitted with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) died as a direct result of the illness. Deaths most commonly resulted from ventilator-associated pneumonia. In comparison with 101 other patients with severe GBS admitted to the intensive care unit, the patients who died were older (p = 0.006) and more likely to have underlying pulmonary disease (p = 0.004). In a specialized center, the primary event leading to death in GBS was ventilator-associated pulmonary infection, predominantly in elderly patients with significant comorbidity.

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