Acquired immune demyelinating neuropathies.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Acquired immune demyelinating neuropathies refer to a group of disorders that share overlapping sensory, motor, and autonomic clinical, laboratory, and electrodiagnostic features. It is important to recognize acquired immune demyelinating neuropathies as they are generally responsive to immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory therapies.

RECENT FINDINGS: This article reviews recently developed early prognostic tools in Guillain-Barré syndrome and discusses the evolving understanding of chronic demyelinating phenotypes with differing treatment responsiveness.

SUMMARY: While weakness and numbness progress over 2 to 4 weeks in Guillain-Barré syndrome, they continue to evolve beyond 8 weeks in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy and over 4 to 8 weeks in subacute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. Acquired immune demyelinating neuropathies present uncommonly as variants with predominance of ocular, bulbar, sensory, autonomic, or motor manifestations in addition to regional variants, such as paraparetic acquired immune demyelinating neuropathies. Establishing the correct diagnosis is important as these immune disorders differ in response to corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive therapies.