Reworsening of Recurrent Guillain-Barré Syndrome Triggered by COVID-19 Infection

Gian Luca Vita, Carmen Terranova, Maria Sframeli, Antonio Toscano, Giuseppe Vita*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Introduction: Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is an acute, immune-mediated, generalized polyradiculoneuropathy often triggered by a bacterial or viral infection, vaccination, or surgery. During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, some patients were reported with GBS associated COVID-19 infection. Case Presentation: We report, herein, a patient who had a recurrent GBS after forty years. Intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIg) induced improvement, but her condition worsened suddenly after twenty days, coinciding with a COVID-19 infection. A second IVIg cycle was administered, and she improved again. Conclusion: The take-home message is that in the current pandemic, any re-worsening or lack of improvement after appropriate treatment of GBS or possibly other autoimmune neurological diseases must be checked to determine if it is related to COVID-19 infection.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)48-51
JournalOpen Neurology Journal
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

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