Acute neuropathies.

Acute neuropathies, defined as symptoms progressing over 4 weeks with a degree of spontaneous recovery, include the Guillain-Barré syndrome and its variants and acute brachial and lumbosacral plexopathies. An immune-mediated mechanism is postulated from clinical features and with the Guillain-Barré syndrome from direct evidence implicating molecular mimicry between epitopes on bacteria related to antecedent illnesses and nerve cell gangliosides. There are little data to guide immune-modulating treatment but there is frequent pain at onset that should be treated aggressively. This chapter will review the clinical features, diagnostic process, pathophysiologic features and treatment data.