<% strPathPics = Session("strPathPicsL") imgBg = strPathPics + Session("strMedia") %> Enhancing Roots

Guillain-Barré Syndrome

A 32 year-old man developed progressive weakness and numbness of the legs that quickly ascended to involve the arms and bulbar muscles over two days. Reflexes were absent. A diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome was made, and the patient was begun on intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG).

Show the Conus Medullaris    Show the Gadolinium Enhancment of the Nerve Roots

Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS): (Left) T1-weighted sagittal MRI; (Right) T1-weighted with gadolinium sagittal MRI. Note that the entire cauda equina (bundle of nerve roots that exit from the lower lumbar spine) enhances with gadolinium. This pattern of nerve root enhancement can be seen in inflammatory disorders, such as GBS and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, as well as in granulomatous (e.g., sarcoid) and infiltrating neoplastic disorders (especially lymphoma).

Revised 10/20/06
Copyrighted 2006. David C Preston