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Case Reports
. 2020 Feb;118(1):e48-e52.
doi: 10.5546/aap.2020.e48.

[Heavy metals in the enviroment: Guillain-Barre like syndrome]

[Article in Spanish]
Graciela M Gaioli  1 , Daniel E González  2 , Giselle Areny  2 , Marcelo Grela  3 , Diego Amoedo  4
Affiliations
Free article
Case Reports

[Heavy metals in the enviroment: Guillain-Barre like syndrome]

[Article in Spanish]
Graciela M Gaioli et al. Arch Argent Pediatr. 2020 Feb.
Free article

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Guillain-Barré syndrome is an entity of diverse etiology, characterized by acute, symmetric, ascending and progressive muscle weakness, being one of the most frequent acquired polyneuropathies in childhood. Neuropathies produced by heavy metals, mercury and lead, and metalloids, such as arsenic, organophosphorus pesticides and carbon tetrachloride, should be considered among the differential diagnoses. We present a 14-year-old patient with a presumptive diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome without response to conventional treatment with gamma globulin. Considering other etiologies, heavy metal neuropathy was suspected, and mercury poisoning was confirmed. The aim of this presentation is to make pediatricians aware about the impact of environmental toxic agents on children's health in order to make an early diagnosis by researching key data through the environmental clinical history.

El síndrome de Guillain-Barré constituye una entidad de etiología diversa, que se caracteriza por debilidad muscular aguda, simétrica, ascendente y progresiva, y es una de las polineuropatías adquiridas más frecuentes en la infancia. Entre los diagnósticos diferenciales, deben considerarse las neuropatías producidas por metales pesados, mercurio y plomo, y metaloides, como el arsénico, plaguicidas organofosforados y el tetracloruro de carbono. Se presenta a un paciente de 14 años con diagnóstico de síndrome de Guillain-Barré sin respuesta al tratamiento convencional con gammaglobulina. Considerando otras etiologías, se sospechó neuropatía producida por metales pesados, y se confirmó intoxicación por mercurio. El objetivo de esta presentación es concientizar a los pediatras acerca del impacto de los tóxicos ambientales en la salud infantil para realizar un diagnóstico precoz pesquisando datos clave a través de la historia clínica ambiental.

Keywords: environmental clinical history; mercury poisoning; nervous system; polyneuropathies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

References

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