Journal of Spine

Coincidence of Guillain-Barre Syndrome in a Patient with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy, A Case Report

Abstract

Talal M. Al-Harbi, Sameeh O. Abdulmana, Mohammed Bin Falah and Reem F. Bunyan1

We report a 50-year-old lady who is well known to have cervical spondylotic myelopathy presented to the emergency department with worsening neck pain, numbness and weakness in the hands initially thought to be secondary to progressive cervical myelopathy. However, her symptoms rapidly progressed to flaccid areflexic quadriparesis and respiratory difficulty within few days. Electrophysiological studies and cerebrospinal fluid analysis were consistent with an acquired demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. She improved after immunotherapy with intravenous immunoglobulin. Considering this is a rare co-occurrence, neurologists and neurosurgeons should be aware of the coincidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome in a patient who has compressive spondylotic myelopathy to avoid unwanted devastated consequences.