The co-occurrence of Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS) and tuberculosis is rare. Even in countries like India, where tuberculosis is common, there is only one case report of co-occurrence of GBS with tuberculosis. We report a case of GBS in association with sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. The earliest treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin in acute motor axonal neuropathy variant of GBS would show good early recovery despite associated pulmonary tuberculosis.

Background In the list of named numerical neuro-ophthalmological syndromes, such as one-and-a-half syndrome and others, we report for the first time twenty-and-a-half syndrome, which is characterized by one-and-a-half syndrome with bilateral seventh and right fifth nerve palsy (1.5 + 7 + 7 + 5 = 20.5) in a patient with ischemic stroke. Case presentation A 45-year-old Asian Hindu woman presented with vomiting and imbalance of 1 day’s duration. She had left-sided ataxic hemiparesis with one-and-a-half syndrome with bilateral seventh and right fifth nerve palsy. Magnetic resonance imaging of her brain revealed acute non-hemorrhagic infarct in the right posterolateral aspect of pons and medulla, with normal brain vessels angiography. We described her disorder as twenty-and-a-half syndrome. She was put on antiplatelet therapy. Conclusions Twenty-and-a-half syndrome is reported for the first time. It is due to posterior circulation stroke; in our case, it was due to lacunar infarcts in the pons and medulla, manifesting as one-and-a-half syndrome with bilateral seventh and right fifth nerve palsy.

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Background: Respiratory system involvement and fever are considered as a cardinal manifestation of Covid-19 infection for the screening of case detection. We (India) are into the fourth month of Covid-19 and cases are still rising, this could mean that fever and respiratory symptoms may not be the only initial symptoms. Therefore, we intend to investigate whether neurological symptoms can precede the cardinal symptoms. Methods: Totally, 391 Covid-19 RTPCR positive hospitalized patients were enrolled. All included subjects were presented with a questionnaire pertaining to systemic symptoms. For analysis of the chronology of symptoms, the study population was sub-grouped according to onset of their systemic involvement e.g., (1) Fever (2) Respiratory symptoms (3) Neurological symptoms (4) Gastrointestinal symptoms. Results: New-onset neurological symptoms were found in 106 (27.1%) out of 391 patients irrespective of their chronology to the onset of other symptoms. Of these 106 patients, altered taste (33.1%), altered smell (24.5%), and headache (22.6%) were the most common neurological symptoms. However, 38 (9.7%) subjects recognized neurological symptoms, as the initial manifestation of their illness. Mean duration of neurological symptoms before the onset of respiratory symptoms or fever was 2 ± 1.57 days. Conclusion: New-onset headache, altered taste, and smell were the most common neurological symptoms. In the context of the current pandemic, a high index of suspicion should be kept in patients presenting with these symptoms even in the absence of fever and respiratory symptoms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study from India comparing chronology of neurological symptoms with cardinal symptoms.

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