AccScience Publishing / AN / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/an.5070
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CASE REPORT

Guillain–Barré syndrome with positive anti-sulfatide antibodies (Paraplegia with bilateral facial nerve palsy): A case report and retrospective analysis

Yifeng Zhang1 ,  Xiaolu Wang1 ,  Bin Wang1 ,  Yaozhen Wang1 ,  Xiaomei Cui1* ,  Yanqiang Wang1*
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1 Department of Neurology II, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Second Medical University, School of Clinical Medicine, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
Advanced Neurology, 5070 https://doi.org/10.36922/an.5070
Submitted: 7 October 2024 | Revised: 10 December 2024 | Accepted: 14 February 2025 | Published: 4 March 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune inflammatory neuropathy frequently triggered by infections such as the Epstein–Barr virus and influenza B virus. While cranial nerve involvement occurs in nearly half of the cases, atypical presentations, including paraplegia with bilateral facial nerve palsy, are extremely rare. Herein, we report a 42-year-old female presenting with progressive lumbosacral pain, paraplegia, and bilateral facial nerve palsy. Diagnostic findings included demyelinating changes on electromyography, protein-cell separation in cerebrospinal fluid, and elevated anti-sulfatide immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibodies, confirming acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. Treatment with intravenous Ig and adjunct therapies resulted in significant recovery and improved quality of life. This case emphasizes the diagnostic role of anti-sulfatide antibody testing in atypical GBS and highlights the potential of sulfatide-targeted therapies as novel interventions.

Keywords
Guillain–Barré syndrome
Anti-ganglioside antibodies
Case report
Paraplegia
Nerve palsy
Funding
This work was supported by Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Development Plan Project (202303071478), Clinical Research Center of Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University (2022WYFYLCYJ02), Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University Horizontal Project (WYFYKY-HX202307, WYFYKY-HX202201), Weifang Key Laboratory and Yuandu Scholar Team Support.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
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Advanced Neurology, Electronic ISSN: 2810-9619 Print ISSN: 3060-8589, Published by AccScience Publishing
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