Lalitha Sivaswamy, MD, 2016. "Guillain-Barré Syndrome (Chapter 260)", American Academy of Pediatrics Textbook of Pediatric Care, Thomas K. McInerny, MD, FAAP, Henry M. Adam, MD, FAAP, Deborah E. Campbell, MD, FAAP, Thomas G. DeWitt, MD, FAAP, Jane Meschan Foy, MD, FAAP, Deepak M. Kamat, MD, PhD, FAAP, Rebecca Baum, MD, FAAP, Kelly J. Kelleher, MD, MPH, FAAP
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The term Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) applies to a group of acquired, immune-mediated conditions affecting the peripheral nerves and nerve roots with occasional involvement of the cranial nerves. The term acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP) was formerly synonymous with GBS because this was considered the primary pathology, but AIDP is now considered a subtype of GBS (see list of subtypes in Box 260-1). Other subtypes exhibit axonal pathology, thereby challenging the formerly held concept that GBS is an exclusively demyelinating disease.
The condition was initially described by Landry in 1859 as a cause of “ascending paralysis” and further elucidated by...
