PLoS ONE (Jan 2016)

Distinct Clinical Characteristics of Pediatric Guillain-Barré Syndrome: A Comparative Study between Children and Adults in Northeast China.

  • Xiujuan Wu,
  • Donghui Shen,
  • Ting Li,
  • Bing Zhang,
  • Chunrong Li,
  • Mei Mao,
  • Jixue Zhao,
  • Kangding Liu,
  • Hong-Liang Zhang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151611
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 3
p. e0151611

Abstract

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ObjectiveClinical characteristics of pediatric Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) have been extensively studied whereas scarcely been compared with those of adult GBS. Herein we compared the clinical features of GBS between pediatric and adult patients.MethodsWe retrospectively collected the clinical data of 750 patients with GBS (541 adults and 209 children), and compared the clinical characteristics between children and adults.ResultsPain was a more frequent complaint in children (17.2% vs 9.6%, p 0.05). The clinical features of acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) in children were overall comparable with adult ones (p > 0.05). Similar to adults, bulbar dysfunction (odds ratio [OR]: 4.621, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.240-17.218, p ConclusionThe clinical features of pediatric GBS differ from those of adults. Autonomic dysfunction is an independent risk factor for mechanical ventilation in pediatric patients.