Successful treatment of refractory Guillain-Barré syndrome with alemtuzumab in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Abstract

This is the case of a 79-year-old man with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who presented with Guillain-Barré syndrome with features overlapping with the Miller Fisher syndrome and Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis and positive antiganglioside GQ1b antibody about 6 months after treatment with bendamustine and rituximab. His clinical and neurologic condition continued to deteriorate despite sequential treatment with corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulin and plasmapheresis, but in the end, he had a complete and durable response to treatment with alemtuzumab.

• Authors: Dimitrios Tzachanis, Ayad Hamdan, Erik J Uhlmann, Robin M Joyce
• Journal: Acta haematologica (Acta Haematol) Vol. 132 Issue 2 Pg. 240-3 ( 2014) ISSN: 1421-9662 [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 24853856 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived
• Antigens, CD
• Antigens, Neoplasm
• Autoantibodies
• Autoantigens
• CD52 Antigen
• CD52 protein, human
• Gangliosides
• Glycoproteins
• Immunoglobulins, Intravenous
• Nitrogen Mustard Compounds
• Alemtuzumab
• Rituximab
• GQ1b ganglioside
• Bendamustine Hydrochloride
• Methylprednisolone

Topics

• Aged
• Alemtuzumab
• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized (therapeutic use)
• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
• Antigens, CD (immunology)
• Antigens, Neoplasm (immunology)
• Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols (administration & dosage, adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Autoantibodies (blood, immunology)
• Autoantigens (immunology)
• Bendamustine Hydrochloride
• CD52 Antigen
• Combined Modality Therapy
• Consciousness Disorders (drug therapy, etiology, therapy)
• Gangliosides (immunology)
• Glycoproteins (antagonists & inhibitors, immunology)
• Guillain-Barre Syndrome (drug therapy, etiology, therapy)
• Herpes Zoster (complications)
• Herpesvirus 3, Human (physiology)
• Humans
• Immunoglobulins, Intravenous (therapeutic use)
• Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell (complications, drug therapy)
• Male
• Methylprednisolone (therapeutic use)
• Miller Fisher Syndrome (drug therapy, etiology, therapy)
• Nitrogen Mustard Compounds (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
• Plasmapheresis
• Remission Induction
• Rituximab
• Virus Activation