HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) CME: Take the course for this article: Volume 64, Number 2, January 25, 2005 Correspondence: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Correspondence are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by de la Cour, C. D. Articles by Jakobsen, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by de la Cour, C. D. Articles by Jakobsen, J. Related Collections Quality of life Prognosis Peripheral neuropathy Guillain-Barre syndrome

Residual neuropathy in long-term population-based follow-up of Guillain–Barré syndrome

From the Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. C. Dornonville de la Cour, Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital, Noerrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark; e-mail: lacour{at}akhphd.au.dk

Objective: To estimate the occurrence of residual neuropathy and its self-reported health consequences in a population-based group of patients with Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) and to characterize quantitatively the concomitant motor, sensory, and autonomic impairments.

Methods: Forty patients (mean age 46 years) with a confirmed diagnosis of GBS were studied a mean of 7 years (range 1 to 13 years) after the acute attack together with 40 healthy control subjects. The Dyck minimal criteria of neuropathy, the Neuropathy Symptom Score, the Neuropathy Disability Score, the Short Form-36 (SF-36) generic health questionnaire, isokinetic dynamometry at ankle and wrist, quantitative sensory testing of thresholds for vibration, cold, and pain, autonomic function tests, nerve conduction studies, and a summed Neuropathy Rank Sum Score (NRSS) were applied.

Results: Nineteen patients (48%) had residual neuropathy, which was independent of follow-up time. The patients with GBS reported lower health status than control subjects on the SF-36 Physical Component Summary Scale (PCS; p = 0.01), and the PCS scores correlated with the NRSS (r = –0.41, p = 0.009). In patients with GBS, muscle strength at ankle dorsal flexion was reduced by 13.9% (p = 0.001), sensory thresholds for vibration were increased in the foot (p < 0.05), and sensory thresholds for cold were increased in the hand and foot (p < 0.05), whereas autonomic functions and pain thresholds were unaffected.

Conclusions: Residual neuropathy affecting large- and medium-sized myelinated fibers endures long after the acute attack of Guillain–Barré syndrome in approximately half of all patients, leads to motor and sensory dysfunction, and shows a trend toward impairing self-reported physical health status.

Received February 19, 2004. Accepted in final form September 8, 2004.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S Agrawal, D Peake, and W P Whitehouse Management of children with Guillain-Barre syndrome Arch. Dis. Child. Ed. Pract., December 1, 2007; 92(6): 161 - 168. [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Forsberg, R. Press, U. Einarsson, J. de Pedro-Cuesta, and L. W. Holmqvist Disability and health-related quality of life in Guillain-Barre syndrome during the first two years after onset: a prospective study Clinical Rehabilitation, August 1, 2005; 19(8): 900 - 909. [Abstract] [PDF]

				Residual Neuropathy from Guillain-Barre Syndrome Journal Watch Neurology, April 7, 2005; 2005(407): 8 - 8. [Full Text]