Autor(es): Pavone P,Le Pira A,Greco F,Vitaliti G,Smilari P L,Parano E,Falsaperla R

Resumo: Three young patients with Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis (BBE) are reported. Some weeks following an upper tract infection, the children after a short period of recovery, showed acute onset of symmetric weakness of the lower limbs with difficulty in standing by and walking. The distal muscle weakness had a rapid progression with involvement of the cranial nerve, and then with severe impairment of the consciousness till to coma in one of the three children. BBE is a rare and often underdiagnosed affection in childhood. Common neuro-immune pathogenesis, overlap of clinical signs and strict correlation among BBE with Fisher syndrome and Guillain-Barrè syndrome lead to think that these affections represent an unique spectrum with different central and peripheral involvement. In these children, treatment with intravenous immunoglobulins resulted in a progressive and rapid resolution of the clinical features.

Imprenta: European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, v. 18, n. 17, p. 2496-2499, 2014

Descritores: Guillain-Barre Syndrome - Cytopathology ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome - Pathogenesis ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome - Proteins ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome - Antibodies

Data de publicação: 2014