Clinical characteristics and management outcomes of Guillain-Barré syndrome: eight-year experience at a tertiary center in jordan – a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Background: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a major cause of acute flaccid paralysis that is encountered in all geographical areas. Very limited data about this syndrome has been reported from the Arab countries. This study is the first one trying to describe the clinical features and management outcomes of GBS in the Jordanian population. Methods: This retrospective study looks at adult patients admitted to a major tertiary referral hospital in the north of Jordan between 2013 and 2021. Results: A total of 30 patients met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Males were predominantly affected (70%) with a male-to-female ratio of 2.33. Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy variant was encountered in 60% of cases, whereas axonal variants, namely, acute motor axonal neuropathy and acute motor axonal and sensory neuropathy variants were seen in about 23% of cases. ICU admission was reported in 37% of patients and 6.7% required mechanical ventilation. Most patients had a favorable outcome with a GBS disability score of three or better at out-patient follow-up visits. Conclusion: Our cohort of patients showed a significant deviation in disease expression from that reported in other parts of the globe. This deviation was obvious in more prominent male predominance, frequencies of different GBS variants, and more favorable short-term morbidity/mortality outcomes. However, larger multicenter prospective studies are needed for confirmation of these results.