Criteria for the diagnosis of the Guillain-Barré syndrome. A critique of the NINCDS guidelines.

The publication of "official" criteria for the diagnosis of the Guillain-Barré syndrome designed for the purpose of aiding epidemiological studies, has resulted in excluding from consideration a number of fragmentary and atypical cases. Because it is a syndrome and not a disease entity, the limits are arbitrary. Several of the criteria are confusing and contradictory; they ignore a vast amount of literature which clearly documents the variability of the signs and symptoms.