title: Guillain-Barre syndrome masquerading as acute respiratory failure in an infant.
abstract: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare entity in infants. We report a case of GBS in a 5-month-old girl. The child presented with cough, loose stools, breathing difficulty, and listlessness. The child was treated as pneumonia with respiratory failure. Due to difficulty in weaning from ventilation with areflexia, marked hypotonia, and reduced power in all four limbs; possibilities of spinal muscular atrophy, poliomyelitis, and myopathies were kept. Nerve conduction velocity study was suggestive of mixed sensory-motor, severe axonal, and demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. Cerebrospinal fluid study revealed albuminocytological dissociation. Child was diagnosed as GBS and treated with intravenous immunoglobulin. Child recovered completely on follow-up. GBS should be considered as a differential diagnosis in acute onset respiratory failure with neuromuscular weakness in infants.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, B. L. Kapur Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Praveen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kishore
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, B. L. Kapur Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Pradeep Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, B. L. Kapur Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Bhaskar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Saikia
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, B. L. Kapur Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Praveen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Khilnani
keywords: Acute flaccid paralysis; Guillain-Barré syndrome; infant; respiratory failure