Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) takes its toll on the resource poor developing countries where the incidence of GBS is several fold higher than that of Europe and North America. In Bangladesh, 15% of patients with GBS die and 20% remain unable to walk. The poor outcome of GBS in these countries is explained predominantly by the lack of treatment and medical support. Specific treatment for GBS with either intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) or plasma exchange (PE) in Bangladesh can be afforded by a small minority of patients and more than 90% of patients receives only supportive care. Our aim was to develop a safe and effective treatment for patients who cannot afford the expensive IVIg or PE. We developed a new technique that is based on the same principle as PE, removal of neurotoxic antibodies and other components from the blood, but is 25 times less expensive. In this Small Volume Plasma Exchange (SVPE) blood is obtained from patients and cleared from the plasma just by gravity. This procedure can be done by the bedside of the patient, without the use of electricity and complex machinery. We started with a pilot study to define the feasibility and safety of the procedure using a strict protocol in 20 patients with GBS in the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This study showed that the procedure indeed is feasible and safe during a follow-up of 6 months (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02780570). We are very thankful to the GBS-CIDP Foundation International for funding part of this study. Based on this study we cannot conclude on the efficacy of the treatment that needs to be defined in a new study in a larger number of patients. To conduct this efficacy study, further funding is required. If the efficacy is demonstrated, SVPE may become available to treat GBS in patients from low-income countries that are currently untreated. About more than half of all patients with GBS in the world belong to this category.
Badrul Islam, MD, PhD Fellow
icddr,b, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands