Plasma exchange and prednisone in Guillain-Barré syndrome: a controlled randomized trial.
A controlled randomized trial of plasma exchange combined with prednisone was compared with supportive care alone in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). There was no significant improvement in the treated group over the controls. The sample size, albeit small (12 treated and 13 controls), had the power (95% chance) to detect a change of 2 British Medical Research Council grades of strength between the groups. The difference in our results and others that indicated a beneficial effect of plasma exchange may reflect an adverse effect of prednisone on recovery in GBS. Failure to find a benefit of plasma exchange in our patients also raises the possibility that GBS may be a heterogeneous disorder with humoral factors playing a role in some but not all patients.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010951:Plasma Exchange; D011129:Polyradiculoneuropathy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011897:Random Allocation
D011241:Prednisone