Guillain-Barré syndrome in northwest Greece

Authors: Markoula, S.; Giannopoulos, S.; Sarmas, I.; Tzavidi, S.; Kyritsis, A. P.; Lagos, G.

Source: Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, Volume 115, Number 3, March 2007 , pp. 167-173(7)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

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Abstract:

Markoula S, Giannopoulos S, Sarmas I, Tzavidi S, Kyritsis AP, Lagos G. Guillain-Barré syndrome in northwest Greece.

Acta Neurol Scand 2007: 115: 167-173. © Blackwell Munksgaard 2006. Objective -

We present the epidemiological and clinical-laboratory features of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in northwest Greece over a 9.5-year period. Materials and methods -

We studied all the patients with GBS who were admitted to our neurology inpatient service from January 1996 to May 2005 and compared them with previously published series. Results -

Forty-six patients were hospitalized during this period. The average crude incidence rate was 1.22/100,000 populations per year, and males were more susceptible than females. There was a spring clustering, as 52.17% presented the syndrome during spring. The axonal type of GBS was recorded in 13.04% of the patients. The most frequent presenting symptom was dysesthetic numbness (52.17%). A large number of patients (56.52%) had up to three times the elevation of liver function values that resolved in a few weeks. Most patients had an excellent recovery and no deaths were recorded. Conclusions -

In our series, there was no difference in the incidence rate and subtypes of GBS but there was a significant seasonality with spring clustering. A transient elevation of transaminases of undetermined etiology was noted in more than a half of our patients. Although seven patients (15.21%) had significant neurologic sequelae, no deaths occurred.

Keywords: Guillain-Barré; northwest Greece; polyneuropathy; seasonality

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0404.2006.00731.x

Publication date: 2007-03-01

Guillain-Barré syndrome in northwest Greece

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