INCREASED INCIDENCE OF GUILLAIN-BARRE-SYNDROME POSTPARTUM

We studied the relation between pregnancy and Guillain-Barre syndrome in the Swedish female population ages 15-49 years during the period 19 78-1993. Person-based information from the national Hospital In-patien t Registry on patients discharged with a diagnosis of Guillain-Barre s yndrome was linked to data on pregnancy and delivery from the Swedish Medical Birth Registry. We validated coded Guillain-Barre syndrome dia gnoses and the time periods of clinical onset for patients hospitalize d with Guillain-Barre syndrome during pregnancy or during the first 90 -day postpartum period. We compared the incidence of Guillain-Barre sy ndrome in women in different exposure categories related to pregnancy with that in women neither pregnant nor in the 90-day postpartum perio d. Poisson regression analysis yielded age-adjusted rate ratios of 0.8 9 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.52-1.53] for pregnant women, 1.37 (95% CI = 0.64-2.91) for women during the first 90 days, and 2.93 (95% CI = 1.20-7.11) during the first 30 days after delivery. Our results indicate that the risk of Guillain Barre syndrome increases after deli very, particularly during the first 2 weeks postpartum.