CSF Findings in Relation to Clinical Characteristics, Subtype, and Disease Course in Patients With Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

Background And Objectives: To investigate CSF findings in relation to clinical and electrodiagnostic subtypes, severity, and outcome of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) based on 1,500 patients in the International GBS Outcome Study.

Methods: Albuminocytologic dissociation (ACD) was defined as an increased protein level (>0.45 g/L) in the absence of elevated white cell count (<50 cells/μL).

Guillain-Barré syndrome after SARS-CoV-2 infection in an international prospective cohort study.

In the wake of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, an increasing number of patients with neurological disorders, including Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), have been reported following this infection. It remains unclear, however, if these cases are coincidental or not, as most publications were case reports or small regional retrospective cohort studies. The International GBS Outcome Study is an ongoing prospective observational cohort study enrolling patients with GBS within 2 weeks from onset of weakness.

Second intravenous immunoglobulin dose in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome with poor prognosis (SID-GBS): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Treatment with one standard dose (2 g/kg) of intravenous immunoglobulin is insufficient in a proportion of patients with severe Guillain-Barré syndrome. Worldwide, around 25% of patients severely affected with the syndrome are given a second intravenous immunoglobulin dose (SID), although it has not been proven effective. We aimed to investigate whether a SID is effective in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome with a predicted poor outcome.

The association of Epstein-Barr virus infection with CXCR3 B-cell development in multiple sclerosis: impact of immunotherapies.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection of B cells is associated with increased multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility. Recently, we found that CXCR3-expressing B cells preferentially infiltrate the CNS of MS patients. In chronic virus-infected mice, these types of B cells are sustained and show increased antiviral responsiveness.

Smoking at time of CIS increases the risk of clinically definite multiple sclerosis.

Background: Cigarette smoking is a modifiable risk factor that influences the disease course of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, in patients with a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), there are conflicting results about the association between smoking and the risk of a subsequent MS diagnosis. The aim of this study was to determine the risk of clinically definite MS (CDMS) in smoking and non-smoking patients at time of a first demyelinating event.

Hepatitis E-associated encephalopathy in a renal transplant recipient.

Hepatitis E virus genotype 3 is not rare in developed countries, and may cause chronic hepatitis in immunocompromised patients. This may not only lead to abnormalities in liver test and malaise, but to severe neurological symptoms as well. In this case, chronic hepatitis E infection caused encephalopathy, an atactic gait, Lhermitte's sign, incomplete bladder emptying and peripheral sensory neuropathy in a renal transplant recipient.

Copy number variation upstream of PMP22 in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

In several individuals with a Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) phenotype, we found a copy number variation (CNV) on chromosome 17p12 in the direct vicinity of the peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) gene. The exact borders and size of this CNV were determined by Southern blot analysis, MLPA, vectorette PCR, and microarray hybridization analyses. All patients from six apparently unrelated families carried an identical 186-kb duplication different from the commonly reported 1.

Psychometric evaluation of a new handicap scale in immune-mediated polyneuropathies.

A new handicap measure, the Rotterdam nine-item handicap scale, was developed and its validity, reliability, and responsiveness evaluated in patients with immune-mediated polyneuropathies. We evaluated 113 stable patients, of whom 83 had Guillain--Barré syndrome (GBS), 22 had chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), and 8 had a gammopathy-related polyneuropathy. We also studied 20 patients with recently diagnosed GBS (n = 7) or CIDP (n = 13) and changing clinical conditions (longitudinal group).