Respiratory Failure in an Adult with Chickenpox-associated Guillain-Barré Syndrome- A Case Report and Literature Review

Chickenpox-associated Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) in adults is rare. Patients in reported previous studies have not usually developed respiratory failure and have responded well to supportive or specific therapies. In this report, we describe a 37-year-old man who developed quadriplegia and respiratory failure due to chickenpox infection that did not improve after repeated plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin (1VlG) treatments. Respiratory muscle strength did not improve until 60 days after disease onset, and the patient was finally liberated from mechanical ventilation after having been intubated for 145 days.