Dysautonomia in Guillain-Barré syndrome with dorsal root ganglioneuropathy, wallerian degeneration, and fatal myocarditis.

An acute Guillain-Barré syndrome presenting as dysautonomia is described in a 12-year-old boy. The patient died of intractable cardiac arrhythmias and cardiac failure. A severe myocarditis with destruction of dorsal root ganglion cells and wallerian degeneration of dorsal roots and peripheral nerves was apparent postmortem. Segmental demyelination and inflammatory cellular infiltrations were not present at these sites.