An atypical presentation of pre-eclampsia (PET) in a patient diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome: A case report

• Main Authors: Jue Wang (Author), Amin Bahabri (Author), Patricia Wong (Author), Arisudhan Anantharachagan (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Elsevier, 2023-03-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2214-9112; 10.1016/j.crwh.2023.e00489
• Keywords: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS); Pregnancy; Diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM); Pre-eclampsia (PET); Surgery; RD1-811; Gynecology and obstetrics; RG1-991
• Source: Case Reports in Women's Health, Vol 37, Iss , Pp e00489- (2023)

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune neurological disorder with unknown aetiology. Given the incidence of GBS is between 1.2 and 1.9 cases per 100,000 people annually [1], it is extremely rare in pregnancy. We report a case with a challenging diagnosis of pre-eclampsia (PET) in a 34-year-old diabetic primigravida who was diagnosed with GBS at 30 weeks of gestation. At her initial presentation, she complained of progressive weakness of her limbs and facial muscles. This was associated with difficulty swallowing. The diagnosis of GBS was made based on electromyography (EMG) and clinical findings. She was managed conservatively with supportive management and was delivered by lower segment caesarean section at 34 weeks of gestation due to rapidly deteriorating liver function tests (LFTs) in the likely setting of PET.