Fulminant guillain-barré syndrome mimicking cerebral death following acute viral hepatitis a.
A 32-year-old man was transferred to an intensive care unit due to respiratory difficulties with a 4-day history of progressive areflexic quadriparesis following acute hepatitis A. A nerve-conduction study revealed inexcitability of most nerves. The cerebrospinal fluid showed albuminocytologic dissociation, suggesting Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). The patient appeared brain dead on day 4, showing absent brainstem reflexes, respiratory failure, and fully dilated and fixed pupils. This case is an example of how GBS can evolve and simulate a brain-dead state from fulminant deafferentation following acute hepatitis A.
Kang
Bong-Hui
BH
Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
Kwang-Kuk
KK