Opsoclonus in a patient with Guillain-Barré syndrome.
A 54 year-old woman showed the unusual association of a Guillain-Barré syndrome and opsoclonus, a rare eye movement characterized by involuntary bursts of jerking, ataxic and multidirectional saccades, without an intersaccadic interval. Since opsoclonus is a phenomenon described exclusively in CNS diseases, the case reported supports the hypothesis of CNS involvement in some cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome. The latter is generally considered an immune-mediated disease and an immune pathogenesis is also supposed in opsoclonus associated with systemic malignancies; besides, in the patient reported, the self-limiting nature of the disturbance and the lack of MRI lesions suggest that opsoclonus may result from an immune-related phenomenon causing a functional and transitory dysfunction of the CNS.
Nicolai
A
A
Department of Neurology, Ospedale Civile, Gorizia, Italy.
Lazzarino
L G
LG
D001933:Brain Stem / Q000473:pathology; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D004585:Electrooculography; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007154:Immune System Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D008875:Middle Aged; D009431:Neural Conduction; D011129:Polyradiculoneuropathy / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*
D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M