OBJECTIVES: To describe a population-based material of patients with recurrent Guillain-Barré syndrome (RGBS), examine the long time course, and search for factors predisposing to recurrence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a follow-up study of the neurology and neurophysiology and a systematic study of the acute microbial serology of patients with RGBS. These parameters were compared with the results of a previous study of monophasic GBS. RESULTS: The patients with RGBS (n = 15) were retrieved from admissions of 229 patients with GBS during a 17-year period. They had 2-7 (median 3) episodes occurring at irregular intervals over decades. Of the 11 patients who accepted a follow-up examination, six were in full remission, and five had moderate sequelae. Nine had a demyelinating subtype, one had an axonal motor variant, and one patient with incomplete Miller Fisher syndrome had associated arachnoiditis. Two patients showed ultimate transition to a course similar to chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. Episodes were generally shorter in RGBS than in GBS, and an initial episode duration <45 days was predictive of recurrence and related to a younger onset age (univariate P = 0.005-0.009). Triggering infections occurred in all patients, in 32 of 41 episodes (78%) with few examples of etiological promiscuity. Serological findings did not differ from those in GBS. CONCLUSIONS: Episodes in RGBS were shorter than in monophasic GBS. We were unable to identify further immunological predisposing factors for recurrence beyond the previously demonstrated relationship to a weaker respiratory burst. We observed no obvious tendency for the recurrence frequency to wane.
OBJECTIVES: To describe a population-based material of patients with recurrent Guillain-Barré syndrome (RGBS), examine the long time course, and search for factors predisposing to recurrence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a follow-up study of the neurology and neurophysiology and a systematic study of the acute microbial serology of patients with RGBS. These parameters were compared with the results of a previous study of monophasic GBS. RESULTS: The patients with RGBS (n = 15) were retrieved from admissions of 229 patients with GBS during a 17-year period. They had 2-7 (median 3) episodes occurring at irregular intervals over decades. Of the 11 patients who accepted a follow-up examination, six were in full remission, and five had moderate sequelae. Nine had a demyelinating subtype, one had an axonal motor variant, and one patient with incomplete Miller Fisher syndrome had associated arachnoiditis. Two patients showed ultimate transition to a course similar to chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. Episodes were generally shorter in RGBS than in GBS, and an initial episode duration <45 days was predictive of recurrence and related to a younger onset age (univariate P = 0.005-0.009). Triggering infections occurred in all patients, in 32 of 41 episodes (78%) with few examples of etiological promiscuity. Serological findings did not differ from those in GBS. CONCLUSIONS: Episodes in RGBS were shorter than in monophasic GBS. We were unable to identify further immunological predisposing factors for recurrence beyond the previously demonstrated relationship to a weaker respiratory burst. We observed no obvious tendency for the recurrence frequency to wane.