Frequency, Age, Gender Distribution, and Seasonal Variation of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in a Province of Pakistan: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Characterized by the sudden onset of muscle weakness, Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is a rare autoimmune disorder which can progress to paralysis. GBS has different subtypes based on the clinical and electrophysiological characteristics, including acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), axonal GBS (AMAN and AMSAN), and Miller Fisher Syndrome (MFS). Objective: To study frequency of the disease in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Methods:  In this retrospective study, medical records of 39 patients diagnosed with GBS at Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar, Pakistan, were analyzed to determine the prevalence of GBS subtypes in the country. Results: The results showed that the most prevalent subtype of GBS was AMAN, accounting for 59% of cases, followed by AMSAN at 25.6%, and AIDP at 15.3%. The axonal variety made up 84.6% of the total GBS cases in this study. On average, the patients with AMSAN were 39.2 years old, while patients with AMAN and AIDP were relatively younger, with mean ages of 30 and 28 years, respectively. There was a male predominance in all subtypes except for AIDP, which showed equal distribution. Conclusions: These findings provide valuable information on the distribution of GBS subtypes in Peshawar, Pakistan, which may have implications for the diagnosis and management of GBS in the country. Additionally, the study's results can contribute to the global understanding of GBS epidemiology and may help improve the diagnosis and treatment of GBS patients worldwide.