Introduction: Acute bulbar, neck, and limb weakness carries several potential differential diagnoses. Although a diagnosis can often be established clinically, investigations such as electrodiagnostic and antibody testing can provide support for the clinical diagnosis and may aid in understanding the pathogenesis. A 65-year-old woman presented with acute bulbar, neck, and rapidly progressive bilateral upper limb weakness.
Methods: Clinical evaluation, electrophysiological, and serological studies were undertaken.
Results: Neurophysiology demonstrated proximal conduction block. A clinical diagnosis of pharyngeal-cervical-brachial weakness, a localized variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome, was made. The patient received treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin and made a remarkable recovery over the next month. She was found to have serum monospecific anti-GT1a antibodies.
Conclusions: We report a case of pharyngeal-cervical-brachial weakness with monospecific anti-GT1a antibodies and discuss the differential diagnosis of acute bulbar, neck, and limb weakness.
Keywords: Guillain-Barré; anti-ganglioside antibodies; clinical neurophysiology; immunology; pharyngeal-cervical-brachial weakness; syndrome.
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