Headache associated with polyneuritis cranialis

ABSTRACT

Polyneuritis cranialis (PNC), a variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), is a very rare disorder of multiple cranial nerve palsies without any peripheral nerve involvement or ataxia. While pain is frequent in GBS, headache is not known in the patient with PNC. We report a 72-year-old man who presented acute bilateral multiple cranial neuropathy, including neuropathies of cranial nerve III-XII and severe and prolonged headache. The brain MRI, cerebrospinal fluid examination, and peripheral nerve conduction studies showed no abnormalities. The headache improved in five weeks. All cranial neuropathies resolved completely 8 months later. We suggest that headache should be considered as an additional cardinal feature of PNC along with multiple cranial neuropathies