Objective
To investigate the clinical diagnostic characteristics and potential pathophysiological mechanisms of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) manifesting with unilateral limb weakness as the initial presentation.
Methods
A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of a GBS patient with unilateral limb weakness who was admitted to the Department of Neurology of the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University on July 24, 2024, and the relevant literature was reviewed.
Results
The patient was a 66-year-old female who was admitted mainly due to "left lower extremity weakness for 5 hours". Her past medical history included thoracic compression fracture (T12) surgery and left breast cancer surgery.Four days before the onset of the disease, she had fever accompanied by diarrhea. No new infarction foci were found on the cranial MRI upon admission, and no improvement was noted after treatment with antiplatelet therapy, cerebral circulation enhancement, and mitigation of brain tissue injury. On the fourth day after admission, the weakness of the left lower extremity worsened, and weakness of the right lower extremity occurred. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed a white blood cell count of 4×106/L and a protein concentration of 0.51g/L. Gram staining, acid-fast staining, fungal staining, and India ink staining of the cerebrospinal fluid revealed no abnormalities. Anti-ganglioside (GM1, GM1b, GalNAc-GD1a, GD1a, GD1b, GQ1b,and GT1a) IgG antibodies were negative. Electrophysiological studies of the lower limbs demonstrated a significant reduction in the amplitudes of the left tibial and left common peroneal nerves, with mildly decreased conduction velocity in the left tibial nerve. The patient was finally diagnosed with GBS. After plasma exchange, the patient′s symptoms were significantly relieved.
Conclusion
GBS that begins with unilateral limb weakness needs to be differentiated from cerebral infarction.