HIV infection presenting with motor axonal variant of Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

OBJECTIVES

We present a case of acute motor axonal neuropathy in a patient with previously unrecognized human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

METHODS

A 46-year-old male graduate student from Mali, Africa presented with a 3-week history of progressive weakness that began during a visit home from Utah. The symptoms stabilized by 6 weeks and gradually improved without treatment.

RESULTS

Electrodiagnostic studies revealed widespread fibrillation potentials and positive sharp waves with normal sensory amplitudes and no demyelinating features. Cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis and elevated protein prompted a test for HIV infection, which returned positive.

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, this is the first case of acute motor axonal neuropathy in HIV outside of a seroconversion reaction.