An Overlapping Case of Miller Fisher Syndrome and the Pharyngeal-Cervical-Brachial Variant of Guillain-Barré Syndrome

Abstract

A 55 years-old Caucasian male presented initially in the emergency room reporting myalgia, chills and fever. Physical exam and laboratory tests were unremarkable and he was discharged with symptomatic care. He returned to our ER two weeks later reporting dizziness, loss of balance, blurred vision, mild dysarthria and bilateral hand paresthesia. On examination he presented complete bilateral ophthalmoplegia, mild dysarthria, left finger-to-nose dysmetria, ataxia, areflexia and bilateral hand hypoesthesia without fever. Blood tests and head computed tomography were normal. The patient was admitted to the Internal Medicine department. On second day inwards the patient presented dysphagia. Head magnetic resonance angiogram showed no signs of ischemia or vascular disease and a lumbar puncture was performed but no pleocytosis, albumin-cytological dissociation or hypoglycorrhachia was present. Despite the normal results we suspected of a Guillain–Barré syndrome variant, and started treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in a dose of 400mg per kilogram and continued for five days with immediate neurological improvement. We present a rare overlapping case of Miller Fisher syndrome and Pharyngeal-Cervical-Brachial variant of Guillain–Barré syndrome.

Keywords

• miller fisher
• guillain-barré syndrome
• pharyngeal-cervical-brachial variant