Gurugram: A 17-year-old girl came to Paras Health, Gurugram around a month back with paralysis and difficulty in swallowing and breathing. The teenage girl was completely paralysed when she arrived at Paras Health, Gurugram, and was unable to move her lower and upper limbs. At that point, the patient was only able to communicate through her eyes. The patient also had respiratory muscle difficulty, for which she was put on a ventilator.
A team of doctors headed by Dr. Sankalp Mohan, Senior Consultant and Unit head Neurology, Paras Health, Gurugram diagnosed her condition to be Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) – a rare auto-immune condition where a person’s own immune system attacks their nervous system.
Dr. Sankalp Mohan, Senior Consultant Neurology, Paras Hospital said: “This teenage girl case is unique and one of the rare and most challenging cases I have dealt with in my medical life as a Neurologist because this is her third GBS attack. Generally, GBS occurs only once in a lifetime of a patient and in less than 5% of patients it might re-occur the second time. But GBS recurring for the third time is extremely rare. After ruling out other causes, we involved the Nephrology team and decided to start plasmapheresis which became the main treatment.”
Plasmapheresis was given to the patient whereby the harmful antibodies of the patient were removed from time to time. A Total of seven cycles of plasmapheresis were given and her progress was monitored by doctors every day round the clock.
Signs of improvement were seen in the patient after around two weeks. With the help of dedicated ICU team support, the patient has weaned off the ventilator gradually over a period of fifteen days. She was also given physiotherapy and gradually she started to move her limbs and eat on her own. The patient’s condition improved and she started to get her mobility back. After a month of continued treatment, the patient completely recovered and regained her mobility.
The Patient, Bharti, “I had given up all hope when the symptoms of GBS came back again. Being almost paralysed as a teenager, unable to move or breathe properly was a heartbreaking experience for me. But when Dr. Sankalp Mohan and the team at Paras Health started treating me, my condition started to improve and I gradually started to get better. When I came to Paras Health, I was in paralysis and lost all hope. Now I am walking back home completely cured like a normal person. I am indebted to the Paras Health team, especially Dr. Sankalp Mohan, for giving me this new life.”
Dr. Sankalp Mohan says that limbs, swallowing and respiratory muscles can be affected in a patient due to GBS. He further adds that three out of ten patients might require ventilator support. However, he assures that GBS is very much a treatable illness, and with proper diagnostics, immediate medical care and intervention can lead to a positive outcome for 90% of the patients.
Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a rare immune condition that can lead to weakness in the muscles to nearly complete paralysis of a patient leaving them unable to breathe without support. Although the exact cause of the disease is unknown, according to doctors, a vaccine, fever, or a recent infection can trigger the immune response where a person’s immune system can start acting haywire affecting the nerves of the body.
In case of recurrent GBS like our case, the possibility of Acute-CIDP (Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy), which is the chronic form of the illness should also be considered. Up to 16 percent of the cases of CIDP may look like GBS on initial presentation.
