Variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome with anti-sulfatide antibody positivity and spinal cord involvement: A case report

BACKGROUND: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute autoimmune-mediated polyneuropathy. Studies have increasingly reported the presence of anti-sulfatide antibody positivity with varying clinical symptoms in patients with GBS. However, spinal cord involvement is relatively rare in these cases. CASE SUMMARY: A 68-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with weakness of the limb for more than 3 d. Additional symptoms included neck pain, progressive numbness in the distal extremities, urinary and fecal retention, and reduced perception of temperature. She was diagnosed with an anti-sulfatide antibody-positive GBS variant and discharged after treatment with methylprednisolone and intravenous human immunoglobulin pulse therapy. Unlike common cases of anti-sulfatide antibody-positive GBS, this patient had atypical clinical symptoms of spinal cord involvement. No similar cases have previously been reported in China. CONCLUSION: Although GBS is associated with a poor prognosis, a prompt diagnosis allows early administration of combined intravenous human immunoglobulin and methylprednisolone pulse therapy.