[Dysautonomia at 2 times in Guillain-Barré syndrome]

Detection of serious bradyarrhythmias in Guillain-Barré syndrome: sensitivity and specificity of the 24-hour heart rate power spectrum

This study was undertaken to determine the nature of bradyarrhythmic events and their relationship to motor disability, disease stages and tachycardia in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome, and to investigate the potential of the 24-hour heart rate power spectrum (HRPS) for the detection of serious bradyarrhythmias in individual patients. Thirty-five consecutive patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome who were admitted to the authors' intensive care unit were studied. In all patients, the heart rate was continuously recorded during the early stages of the disease, averaged at 1-minute intervals, and stored for 1 to 87 days. The HRPS (n = 556, 16 +/- 19 per patient; median, 9) was calculated by Fourier analysis of 24-hour recordings and logarithmically transformed. The slope was estimated by regression analysis of log (power) on log (frequency) between 10(-4) and 4 x 10(-3) Hz, showing an inverse power law behavior in all 556 HRPSs. Eleven patients (31%) had serious bradyarrhythmias. Most of these patients were not dependent on mechanical ventilation, with 3 of 11 patients (27%) still being able to walk more than 5 meters. Sustained tachycardia occurred less frequently in patients with than in those without bradyarrhythmias. The combination of the slope of the power law regression line and the log (power) at 10(-4) Hz (log P4) of the 24-hour HRPS correctly identified 8 of 11 bradyarrhythmic patients (sensitivity 73%) and 16 of 22 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome who did not have bradyarrhythmias (specificity 73%). All bradyarrhythmic patients could be detected in the subgroup of patients without sustained tachycardia. The 24-hour HRPS is a powerful predictor of serious autonomic complications in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome and may help to identify patients at risk of potentially life-threatening arrhythmias.

A dysautonomia case of Guillain-Barré syndrome with recovery: monitored by Composite Autonomic Scoring Scale

To investigate the usefulness of the Composite Autonomic Scoring Scale (CASS) as an indication for autonomic dysfunction with Guillain-Barré syndrome, we quantitated autonomic deficits on follow-up using CASS in a patient with Guillain-Barré syndrome who did not have any autonomic symptoms and had good clinical recovery. Using the CASS we found the patient to have mild autonomic dysfunction but with a period of recovery. The scale showed that adrenergic deficits improved quickly, sudomotor deficits recovered moderately and cardiovagal deficits did not improve. These results suggested that the patient with Guillain-Barré syndrome might have dysautonomia although she did not have any autonomic symptoms. Results also suggest that there might be difference on the degree of improvement among adrenergic, sudomotor and cardiovagal deficits in Guillain-Barré syndrome. The CASS may be a sensitive tool for the detection of autonomic dysfunction in Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Autonomic involvement in Guillain-Barré syndrome: a review

Autonomic neuropathy is an important and common complication of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Manifestations be present in cardiovascular, sudomotor, gastrointestinal and other systems involving both sympathetic and parasympathetic fibers. Some apparently selective acute autonomic neuropathies may be subvarieties of GBS. Experimental work in animal models, pathological studies of GBS patients, and autonomic function studies have provided some help in the understanding of this complication. In managing GBS patients with autonomic dysfunction there are important practical considerations that can improve their care. In this article we review the literature on autonomic neuropathy in GBS and propose a management scheme to accommodate it in the overall treatment of the neuropathy.