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A Missed Diagnosis of Guillain-Barre Syndrome Masquerading as Stroke in an Acute Medical Unit: A Case Report
- Source :
- Case Reports in Clinical Practice, Vol 6, Iss 6 (2023)
- Publication Year :
- 2023
- Publisher :
- Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 2023.
-
Abstract
- An elderly woman aged 66 presented to a general hospital with left-sided facial paresis, bilateral lower limb weakness, and back pain. After undergoing clinical assessments and investigations, she was diagnosed and treated as a case of acute stroke. Two weeks later, she was repatriated to our hospital for neuro-rehabilitation. Unconvinced, we revisited her clinical history and, after a thorough physical examination, made a clinical diagnosis of Guillain- Barre Syndrome (GBS), i.e., confirmed by electrophysiological studies. She was treated with intravenous immunoglobulin and made a complete recovery 6 weeks later. This case highlights an infrequent presentation of GBS as a stroke-mimic. It re-emphasizes the need to maintain a high index of clinical suspicion for similar expressions, especially in busy acute medical units. Such cases are easily missed if basic clinical skills, such as good history- taking and thorough physical examination, are glossed over. Despite time constraints, these skills are indispensable in clinical practice.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 25382683 and 25382691
- Volume :
- 6
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Case Reports in Clinical Practice
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.542b008528cf42b3be277eb29c550ca8
- Document Type :
- article