Published in:
01-03-2010 | Letter to the editors
Guillain–Barré syndrome after rituximab in a patient with idiopathic thombocytopenic purpura: a causal association?
Authors:
Raquel Jaso, María Sierra, Jesús Calleja, Carmen Valero, Julio Pascual
Published in:
Journal of Neurology
|
Issue 3/2010
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Excerpt
Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute demyelinating inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy characterised by rapidly progressing predominantly motor impairment and areflexia. Studies in patients and animals have provided convincing evidence that GBS is caused by an aberrant autoimmune response that damages peripheral nerves [
1]. GBS rarely develops in patients who suffer from other autoimmune conditions, such as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), which suggests a shared immune response [
2‐
11]. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody particularly efficacious in the treatment of several haematological cancers, which has also been used for the treatment of some autoimmune conditions [
12]. Here we report on a patient with ITP who developed a typical GBS after treatment with rituximab. …