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Individual patients who experienced both Guillain‐Barré syndrome and CIDP
Author(s) -
Kuitwaard Krista,
Ruts Liselotte,
Van Doorn Pieter A.,
Van Der Pol W.Ludo
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of the peripheral nervous system
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1529-8027
pISSN - 1085-9489
DOI - 10.1111/j.1529-8027.2009.00208.x
Subject(s) - medicine , chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy , guillain barre syndrome , neurology , pediatrics , task force , polyradiculoneuropathy , weakness , post hoc , surgery , antibody , immunology , psychiatry , public administration , political science
Dear Editor, Although Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) have been considered as separate entities, some authors have argued that they may be part of a continuum of inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathies (Grand’Maison et al., 1992; Hughes et al., 1992; Mori et al., 2002). GBS is defined as having a progressive onset phase of less than 4 weeks; CIDP of at least 2 months (Asbury and Cornblath, 1990; Ad Hoc Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology AIDS Task Force, 1991; Joint Task Force of the EFNS and the PNS, 2005). However, some CIDP patients have an acute onset, resembling GBS, and some patients with GBS may relapse or experience treatment-related fluctuations (TRFs) (Grand’Maison et al., 1992, Ruts et al., 2005). We describe four patients all having had separate episodes of both GBS and CIDP who fulfilled the clinical and diagnostic criteria (Asbury and Cornblath, 1990; Ad Hoc Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology AIDS Task Force, 1991; Joint Task Force of the EFNS and the PNS, 2005). These four patients came to our attention during a period of 20 years in which over 700 GBS and 150 CIDP patients were seen or enrolled in clinical studies. Most GBS patients were followed up for a period of 1 year; the majority of CIDP patients for many years.