Sporadic non-A, non-B hepatitis and Epstein-Barr hepatitis associated with the Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Three cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) complicating sporadic non-A, non-B viral hepatitis (NANB) are reported. One case occurred in the incubation period for NANB hepatitis, and the other cases were noted to have hepatitis at the time of hospital admission due to paralysis. Three patients (13%) in a prospective series of 23 patients with GBS were found to have subclinical hepatitis (two patients with NANB hepatitis, and one patient with Epstein-Barr viral hepatitis). This unexpectedly high incidence of hepatitis associated with GBS is discussed and a possible causal link between NANB hepatitis and surgery-related GBS is proposed.