Acute hemiplegia as a rare presentation of infantile Guillain-Barre syndrome

Abstract

Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) usually presents in a symmetrical ascending fashion of weakness. We present a 6-month-old male infant who presented to our emergency room with acute left-sided limb weakness and head lag 3 days after a febrile upper respiratory tract infection. A diagnosis of GBS was established by confirming high cerebrospinal fluid protein, motor nerve reduced amplitude, and prolonged conductions, and MRI T2 high signal intensity affecting the ventral roots of the spinal cord. He showed remarkable clinical and neurophysiological improvement after intravenous immunoglobulin and intensive physiotherapy. The occurrence of infantile acute hemiplegia as a presentation of GBS is rare. This report highlights the importance of considering GBS in the differential diagnosis so that early effective treatment may be started.