What are the symptoms of chronic Guillain-Barré syndrome

Chronic Guillain-Barré syndrome is also a type of Guillain-Barré syndrome. The main difference is that multiple nerve roots are affected. The course of the disease is relatively slow, but it is prone to relapse. Common symptoms include movement disorders, sensory disorders, emission disorders, etc. If you discover such symptoms, you need to seek treatment promptly.

Chronic Guillain-Barré syndrome is also known as chronic infectious demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Similar to AIDP but different. CIDP has a slow course and is prone to relapse, with symptoms mainly characterized by muscle weakness and sensory impairment. Symptoms of muscle weakness are often symmetrical, mainly manifesting as weakness of the shoulders, upper arms and thighs, and may also be combined with weakness of the forearms, calves, hands and feet. Limb weakness is often more common than trunk weakness. Lower limb weakness is often manifested as unsteady walking, easy stepping on empty space, inability to stand for long periods of time, difficulty going up and down stairs, and difficulty sitting up. Weakness in the upper limbs can cause difficulty in using keys to open locks, holding a pen, unbuttoning, and combing hair. Most muscles are atrophied. A considerable number of patients present with rapidly progressive clinical disease progression, with atrophy and weakness of the distal limbs progressively developing toward the proximal muscles, and even involving the chest, back, and neck muscles, causing systemic muscle atrophy; what's worse, it quickly leads to atrophy of the respiratory muscles, clinically manifested as dyspnea, and the patient's life is in danger due to respiratory failure and heart failure.

(1) Movement disorders: Paralysis of the limbs and trunk is the main symptom of this disease. It usually starts from the lower limbs and gradually spreads to the trunk muscles, upper limbs and cranial nerves, and can spread from one side to the other. The disease usually reaches its peak within 1 to 2 weeks. The paralysis is generally more severe proximally than distally, with low muscle tone. If breathing, swallowing and pronunciation are affected, it may cause paralysis of spontaneous breathing, difficulty in swallowing and pronunciation, and endanger life.

(2) Sensory impairment: Generally mild, often starting with numbness or tingling in the extremities. There may also be a stocking-like decrease in sensation, loss of sensation, or hypersensitivity, as well as spontaneous pain, with tenderness being more pronounced in the gastrocnemius and anterior wall muscle angle. Segmental or tract sensory disturbances may occasionally be seen.

(3) Ejaculation disorder: The tendon reflexes of the limbs are often symmetrically weakened or absent, while the abdominal wall and cremaster reflexes are mostly normal. A small number of patients may develop pathological reflex signs due to involvement of the vertebral tract.