LAUSR

In this retrospective study based on a registry, Kalita et al. [ 1] com pared the outcomes of 189 patients with Guillain- Barré syndrome (GBS) who received intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), with 199 age- and peak disability- matched patients who did not receive any immunomodulation or plasmapheresis, thus representing the natural course of GBS. Numbers for in- hospital deaths and poor recovery at 3 months were similar between the two groups. At 6 months, 8.3% of the natural course subgroup, but only 2.2% of the IVIg group, had a poor outcome. After the patients had been divided into those with the acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) phenotype and the acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP) phenotype, only those with the AIDP phenotype had a better 6-month outcome with IVIg. This study could not have been done in any setting where IVIg or plasmapheresis, the two established treatment modalities for GBS, are readily available. In fact, no clinical trial in GBS with a placebo arm would an ethics commission's approval for being carried out. Thus, data like the ones presented this study understanding of The International Syndrome Outcome GBS