title: Occurrence of fatigue over 20 years after recovery from Guillain-Barré syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Reports regarding outcome of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) are usually limited to relatively short follow-up. We assessed the occurrence of fatigue and correlated it to clinical measures in patients who had suffered from GBS over 20 years previously.
  
  
  METHODS
  We contacted 24 patients with GBS requiring in-hospital rehabilitation during the years 1970-1987. Disability was established at rehabilitation admission using the Hughes scale (HS). Disability and fatigue were assessed at time of this study by the Overall Disability Sum Score (ODSS) and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean HS at admission was 2.5 ± 0.7, and at follow-up 1.1 ± 1.3. Mean ODSS was 2.8 ± 3.6, FSS was 4.4 ± 2. Ten patients reported severe fatigue (>5). Very good correlations were found between FSS and HS at admission and follow-up and between FSS and ODSS. FSS was not influenced by patients' age, age at disease onset, gender or time from GBS to the study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fatigue can persist after apparent recovery from GBS and remain severe for many years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel. vdrory@post.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Vivian E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Drory
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bronipolsky
authors.forename: Vadim
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bluvshtein
authors.forename: Amiram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catz
authors.forename: Amos D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Korczyn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020275:Guillain-Barre Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*