Clinical Experience with Gullain Barre Syndrome Over a 6-Year Period in One Hospital in The Middle East

Background: Gullain Barre Syndrome (GBS) is the most common cause of sporadic acute flaccid paralysis but is still relatively rare. No series describing the full clinical course of patients with GBS were reported from the Arab world.Methods: Here we report on our experience with GBS over a 6-year period in one large medical facility from January 1999 till December 2004.Results: We encountered 12 patients with GBS.The median age was 47 years and all had generalized weakness and areflexia. One patient started as Miller Fisher Syndrome (MFS) and ended up with GBS. More than 80% of patients were admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and 75% were intubated. All patients received supportive care. Specific treatment included intravenous immunoglobulin IVIG in all patients (100%), plasma exchange (PE) in 2 patients (17%), and intravenous methyl prednisolone (IVMP) in 1 patient (9%). The median time to walk independently was 62 days. Transient complications occurred in the majority of patents but the overall outcome was good in the majority of patients; with one single (8%) and probably unrelated mortality.Conclusions: Compared to other series, no significant difference in clinical presentation or outcome was noted