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// Ying Wang 1 , Wenjuan Lang 1 , Yaqian Zhang 1 , Xiaoyi Ma 2 , Chunkui Zhou 1 and Hong-Liang Zhang 1,3 1 Department of Neurology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China 2 Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Hospital to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China 3 Department of Life Sciences, The National Natural Science Foundation of China, Beijing, China Correspondence to: Ying Wang, email: // Chunkui Zhou, email: // Hong-Liang Zhang, email: // Keywords : Guillain-Barré syndrome, long-term prognosis, predictors, self-limitation, intravenous immunoglobulin Received : July 12, 2017 Accepted : August 17, 2017 Published : September 01, 2017 Abstract Background: The long-term follow-up system for Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is not well established worldwide. In our study, the preliminary data of the long-term prognosis of GBS are collected to explore the prognosis of GBS and the effect of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) treatment. Methods: The follow-up data of 186 patients with GBS admitted from 2003 to 2013 were collected in 2015 via phone interview. The GBS disability scale score was ranked by clinician to evaluate the long-term prognosis. The clinical data during the acute phase were also collected. Results: The mortality rates were 2.15%, 5.45% and 7.89% at discharge, 2-5 years and 6-10 years after disease, respectively. The GBS disability scale score improved dramatically from discharge to 2-12 years after the acute phase. The self-limitation, the spontaneous recovery of disease, occurred both at acute phase and 2-5 years after discharge. Comparisons between IVIg-treated patients and GBS patients who only received supportive care revealed no significant difference of long-term prognosis. Conclusion: The long-term prognosis of GBS appears not to be influenced by treatment options. The long-term improvement of IVIg treated-patients might be due to the self-limitation of GBS per se instead of the IVIg treatment.
Wang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.