The Guillain-Barré syndrome: clinical and electroneuromyographic studies

Clinical and electrophysiological studies were carried out on 39 patients with the Guillain-Barré syndrome to evaluate which elements were of prognostic value during the acute phase. Residual clinical signs such as motor weakness and absent patellar tendon reflexes were found in 16 (52%) of those patients who had had a preceding illness. Persistence of deficit was significantly correlated to age at onset, the degree of quadriparesis and loss of deep sensation in the acute phase. Of the 10 patients who showed a reduction in motor nerve conduction velocity (MCV) in the early stage, 8 (80%) revealed significantly residual clinical symptoms at follow-up. There was a tendency for the incidence of residual signs to be more common in the patients with slowing of mixed nerve conduction velocity, and prolonged latency of H-wave and the residual latency. Nerve conduction studies, especially measurement of MCV, were of value as a reliable prognostic indicator in this syndrome.