Guillain Barre syndrome with pulmonary tuberculosis: A case series from a tertiary care hospital

INTRODUCTION: Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is post-infectious autoimmune polyradiculopathy which characteristically presents with a monophasic illness with CSF albumino-cytological dissociation with partial or complete recovery. The incidence of GBS is about 1 to 2/100,000 per year.[1] Subtypes are described based on electrophysiological patterns, the most common being acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) and rarer ones being acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN), and acute motor and sensory axonal neuropathy (AMSAN). Tuberculosis is prevalent in India with various neurological manifestation including tuberculoma, brain abcess, pott's spine, and radiculomyelopathy.[2] Five cases have been published of tuberculosis and GBS.[34567] The main underlying pathophysiological mechanism is aberrant immune activation due to molecular mimicry against ganglioside in myelin. Although tuberculosis is mainly T-cell-mediated chronic disease, still there are cases reported with tuberculosis with GBS. Here we are going to present four cases of pulmonary tuberculosis presented with GBS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study describes clinical profile of four patients who presented with concomitant pulmonary tuberculosis and GBS over a period of 4 years in a tertiary hospital. Diagnosis was made according to Brighton criteria and alternative diagnosis were ruled out by clinical examination, serological markers, and MRI imaging of the spine. All patient underwent thorough investigation including HIV 1, 2, anti-CMV, anti-EBV to rule out other possible triggers of GBS, NCV, CSF study along with sputum AFB culture. ZN staining and CECT thorax were also done to support the diagnosis. RESULTS: Of total four cases, 3 were male and 1 was female who presented with weight loss, anorexia, cough with or without hemoptysis, and acute progressive LMN quadriparesis in which there was typical albumin-cytological dissociation in CSF. Nerve conduction studies were suggestive of AIDP in two patients, AMAN in one patient, and AMSAN in the fourth one. An exhaustive investigation for triggers of GBS were performed for all patients who were treated with IVIG and two of them completely recovered and rest of two did not recover completely after 6 weeks of follow-up. CONCLUSION: In pulmonary tuberculosis, patients with polyneuropathy demands urgent search for GBS as there has been case reports in literature though the association between tuberculosis and GBS is not clear.