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Background: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) patients who present very early (< 4 days) to health-care services generally have severe clinical forms due to rapid progression. Little information exists on the clinical and short-term functional prognosis in patients with very-early GBS (VEGBS). Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted. We performed Kaplan-- Meier survival analysis to observe the recovery of independent gait between groups, where a log-rank value < 0.05 was considered significant. All statistical analyzes were performed using SPSS version 22. Results: Ninety-nine patients were included in the study. Mean age was 46.7 ± 16.7 years, 61.9% were male. Regarding nerve conduction studies, the most frequent electrophysiological variants in the very early-onset GBS group were axonal (38.7%). Twenty-three percent were classified as equivocal. In the GBS group > 4 days, the most frequent electrophysiological variant was acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (52.1%). Conclusion: Patients with VEGBS do not present different clinical characteristics, nor severity or poor short-term outcome in our population compared to different GBS presentations. Only mechanical ventilation requirement and distal compound muscle action potential reduction are associated with poor outcome in this subset of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To date, Mexico has more than 1,280,000 confirmed cases and more than 116,000 deaths due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Limited information is available regarding Latin American patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and SARS-CoV-2. Objective: The objective is to describe the presentation, diagnosis, and outcome of patients with GBS associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: We describe four cases of GBS associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Mexico. Results: Neurological symptoms initiated 2-17 days after the respiratory symptoms. The age group in or patients ranged from 26 to 41 years. Two patients presented with progressive, acute, and symmetric weakness and two with bilateral facial palsy. Patients with GBS diagnosis associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection have been reported to have a good outcome after IGIV or plasma exchange therapy. Conclusion: It is important to consider GBS as a potential manifestation of SARS-CoV-2 infection and recall that the diagnosis is based mainly on clinical evaluation. Laboratory and CSF analysis, as well as neurophysiologic studies, should be considered as a complement for diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Hyponatremia occurs in 21-48% of patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). However, little is known about the clinical implications in GBS. Materials and methods: In this observational, cross-sectional study, of patients diagnosed with GBS was conducted. Information used included: demographic clinical variables, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) results, and nerve conduction studies. Patients with sodium levels < 135 meq/L in laboratory studies on admission and before treatment were considered to have hyponatremia. We defined good functional prognosis as the presence of independent gait (Hughes = 2 points) at 3 months of follow-up. Results: Two hundred and twelve patients were initially screen and 31 (14.6%) presented hyponatremia; male gender was predominant with 72%, mean age was 45.9 ± 16 years, mean Modified Medical Research Council (MRC) score was 30.1 ± 17 points, invasive mechanical ventilation requirement was 32%, and the presence of dysautonomia 32%. One hundred and eighty-two nerve conduction studies, and 165 CSF cytochemical samples were collected. In the comparative analyses between the patients with hyponatremia versus without hyponatremia, we observed significant differences in mean age (50.4 ± 14.9 vs. 43.8 ± 16.3, p = 0.03), days of hospitalization (median) (16 [IQR = 7-51] vs. 7 [IQR = 5-12] p = 0.03), dysautonomia (54.8% vs. 28.2%, p = 0.006), protein levels (mgs/dL) in CSF (median) (105 [IQR = 59-165] vs. 39 [IQR = 28-57], p = 0.001), and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) variant (70.4% vs. 42%, p = 0.011). There was no significant finding in recovery of independent gait at 3 months (34.6% vs. 42.6%, p = 0.51). Conclusion: About 14% of patients with GBS presented with hyponatremia in our series and is associated with presence of dysautonomia, AIDP variant, elevated CSF protein levels and a greater number of days of hospital stay but did not impact functional prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis (BBE) presents with consciousness impairment, ataxia, ophthalmoplegia, and areflexia. Objective: We aim to describe the clinical, paraclinical, and imaging features of patients with BBE from a tertiary-referral neurological center. Methods: A case series was conducted from an ambispective cohort of patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) from 2016 to 2021. Subjects ≥ 18 years and who met Odaka et al. BBE criteria were eligible. Data collected included: age, gender, prior infection, Guillain-Barré disability score (GDS score), time from symptom onset to diagnosis, altered mental state, time from symptom onset to altered mental state, cranial nerve involvement, deep tendon reflexes, ataxia, invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) requirement, treatment, inpatient delirium, length of stay (days), and protein levels in CSF analysis. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) were performed, as well as neuroimaging (brain magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] and F18-fluorodeoxyglucose PET-CT). Antiganglioside antibodies panel including anti-GQ1b was solicited. results: Four patients (1.7%) met the inclusion criteria. Two patients manifested stupor and two showed somnolence throughout the course of the disease. Three patients required IMV due to bulbar dysfunction. None of the NCS met the criteria for any GBS electrophysiological variant. One patient was positive for IgM GM2 antibodies. One patient underwent 18F-FDG PET-CT, showing generalized cortical hypometabolism. Conclusion: The frequency of BBE in our population is very low (1.7%). IgM GM2 is another anti-ganglioside antibody related to BBE. Imaging studies such as MRI frequently do not present abnormalities and [F18-FDG-PET scan might be a useful study to describe a metabolism pattern to aid the diagnosis of BBE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]