CLINICAL SIGNS OF BRAIN-DEATH SIMULATED BY GUILLAIN-BARRE-SYNDROME

A 58-year-old woman with relapsing acute Guillain-Barre syndrome separ ated by long asymptomatic intervals presented clinical symptoms resemb ling those of brain death. She remained in this situation for 15 days and recovered with amnesia for this period. The amnesia was not explai ned either by metabolic encephalopathy or by sedative drugs. This case stresses the importance of the precise etiologic diagnosis of severe brain disease and the isoelectric EEG in brain death.