Successful treatment by plasma exchange in Guillain-Barré syndrome with immune complexes.

A 18-year-old woman in the 7th month of pregnancy had a mild enteritis followed within 8 days by a typical Guillain-Barré syndrome with respiratory failure requiring ventilatory support and bulbar palsy. After induction of delivery and discouraging results with steroid therapy, she was treated by plasma exchange. After 2 sessions on alternate days, a recovery of motility was observed and respiratory failure was abolished. It is pointed out that the most significant improvement was recorded immediately after the plasma exchanges, and that this correlated with the removal of immune complexes.