Ventricular Tachycardia in the Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Cardiac Complications in Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Review of the Literature

Abstract

Objectives: The Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a cause of acute flaccid paralysis mainly in young and middle-aged adults and commonly requires admission to an intensive care unit. Manifestations of the GBS vary from monoparesis to life-threatening progressive ascending paralysis with the involvement of the respiratory muscles. The latter often accompanied with cardiac involvement. There is a wide range of clinical cardiac manifestations: from signs of autonomic dysfunction (labile blood pressure, oscillations in heart rate) to involvement of the myocardium and potentially fatal arrhythmias. Materials and methods: We present a case of a patient with GBS complicated with ventricular tachycardia. The accompanying review of the literature underlines the wide spectrum of cardiac complications in this entity. Results and Conclusions: A thorough review of the literature shows rare reports of a wide spectrum of cardiac abnormalities, with no reported spontaneous VT. We suggest that careful cardiac assessment of patients with GBS be performed including continuous ECG monitoring as well as measurement of cardiac enzymes and 2-D Echocardiography.