Association of motor nerve conduction block with different subtypes of childhood Guillain-Barré syndrome

Abstract:

Objective To study the association of motor nerve conduction block (CB) with different subtypes of childhood Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical and nerve electrophysiological data of 50 children with GBS. According to the results of nerve electrophysiology, the children were divided into an acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) group with 29 children and an acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) group with 21 children. According to the presence or absence of motor nerve CB, the children with AMAN or AIDP were further divided into subgroups:group AMAN with or without motor nerve CB (n=10 and 11 respectively) and group AIDP with or without motor nerve CB group (n=19 and 10 respectively). The subgroups were compared in terms of age of onset, sex, Hughes Functional Grading Scale (HFGS) at nadir for the most severe involvement of motor function, and short-term prognosis based on HFGS score at 1 month after disease onset. Results Motor nerve CB was reversible in children with AMAN. AMAN children with motor nerve CB had a significantly lower HFGS score than those without motor nerve CB at 1 month after onset (P < 0.05). AIDP children with motor nerve CB had a significantly higher HFGS score than those with motor nerve CB at 1 month after onset (P < 0.05). Conclusions AMAN with reversible motor nerve CB suggests mild nerve fiber lesion and has better recovery than AMAN and AIDP without motor nerve CB in short term.