Guillain-Barre Syndrome and COVID-19: a narrative review

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by SARS-COV-2. Guillaín-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute and potentially fatal autoimmune inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy. Currently, cases of patients with both pathologies have been reported, whose clinical manifestations ranged from muscle weakness to respiratory distress; For this reason, the present work aims to characterize the clinical picture of GBS cases in patients with COVID-19. METHODOLOGY: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, ScienceDirect and JAMA, in addition to a review of the WHO website, using MeSH terms and free search to collect only the reports of cases in which patients with COVID-19 developed GBS. RESULTS: Of the 14 case reports, 50% were men and women, with a mean age of 55.71 men and 60.71 women. We found 5 patients with a medical history, who had an unfavorable clinical course. The types of neuropathy found were 8 demyelinating, 2 axonal and 4 unreported; likewise, in 85.7% albuminocytological dissociation was evidenced. In all reported cases, IVIG was used as treatment for GBS and complete recovery was observed in 70% of cases. CONCLUSION: Most GBS cases occurred after COVID-19; and they were demyelinating in type. Those patients with previous comorbidities presented an unfavorable evolution.