Prognosis of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in Children

Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is an acute polyradiculoneuropathy characterized by progressive motor weakness of limbs and areflexia. In this study, our aim was to evaluate the clinical pattern and prognosis of children with Guillain-Barre syndrome.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Pediatric Neurology Unit of Amirkola Children's Hospital, Babol, Iran during the period of 5 years from October 2008 to September 2013. We assessed the clinical features, results of electrodiagnostic tests, functional status, treatment and outcome of 17 children diagnosed with GBS.

Of 17 (male to female ratio = 1.6:1) children studied, all had motor weakness, 4 children (23.5 %) and cranial nerve palsies. Respiratory paralysis was found in one child requiring assisted ventilation. Antecedent illness preceding GBS was recorded in 7 (41.2%) children. The GBS subtype distribution as per electrodiagnostic studies was as follows: acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP) in 12 (70.6%) acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) in 3 (17.6%), acute motor sensory axonal neuropathy (AMSAN) in 2 (11.8%). IVIG constituted the treatment given in all of the patients. Complete recovery was observed in 16 children and the remaining one child was dependent to wheelchair.

GBS in children is not poor prognostic disorder and our recommendation is administration of IVIG as soon as possible after clinical diagnosis. Except for one child who remained wheelchair bound, there was no mortality or morbidity in long-term observation. Besides, strong limitation of our study was the low number of subjects.