The Guillain-Barré syndrome. A review of admissions to an intensive care unit over 8 years.

Forty-four patients with a diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg, between January 1975 and December 1982. Of these patients 7 were found to have other diseases with similar features, and they were excluded from the study, leaving 37 patients; 2 patients were admitted twice. An unexpected finding was that 21 patients (56,8%) were less than 10 years of age. Respiratory failure was present on admission in 15 cases (38,5% of the 39 admissions). Treatment was mostly supportive in nature and included assisted ventilation. Most morbidity involved the respiratory system. The high mortality (8 patients (21,6%) died) was probably due to the severe nature of the disease in these cases.