What is the Difference Between Transverse Myelitis and Guillain Barre Syndrome

The key difference between transverse myelitis and Guillain Barre syndrome is that transverse myelitis is an immunologically mediated polyneuropathy mainly characterized by acute or subacute motor, sensory, and autonomic spinal cord dysfunction, while Guillain Barre syndrome is an immunologically mediated polyneuropathy mainly characterized by tingling, progressive weakness, autonomic dysfunction, and pain.

Transverse myelitis and Guillain Barre syndrome are two diseases that represent immunologically mediated polyneuropathies. They are also clinically important major polyneuropathies currently encountered in clinical setups. Both these neurological disorders have a genetic predisposition. Moreover, both disorders may be induced by infectious agents and vaccines.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Transverse Myelitis 
3. What is Guillain Barre Syndrome
4. Similarities – Transverse Myelitis and Guillain Barre Syndrome
5. Transverse Myelitis vs Guillain Barre Syndrome in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Transverse Myelitis vs Guillain Barre Syndrome

What is Transverse Myelitis?

Transverse myelitis is an acute inflammatory disorder that is mainly characterized by motor, sensory, and autonomic spinal cord dysfunction. It is a neurological disorder that shows inflammation of both sides of one section of the spinal cord. More often, in this neurological disorder, the insulating material that covers nerve cell fibres called “myelin” is damaged, interrupting the messages the spinal cord nerves send throughout the human body.

The typical symptoms of transverse myelitis are pain, abnormal sensation (numbness, tingling, coldness, or burning), weakness in the arms or legs, paralysis, and bladder and bowel problems. The complications involved with transverse myelitis are pain, stiffness, tightness, painful spasms, partial or total paralysis, sexual dysfunction, depression, or anxiety. Moreover, transverse myelitis can be caused by viral, bacterial, and fungal infections triggered by autoimmune conditions, other inflammatory conditions such as multiple sclerosis, sarcoidosis, neuromyelitis optica (Devic’s disease), and vaccination.

Transverse myelitis can be diagnosed through medical history, clinical assessment of nerve function, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), lumbar puncture (spinal tap), and blood test (antibody test). Furthermore, treatment options for transverse myelitis include intravenous steroids, plasma exchange therapy, antiviral medication, pain medication (acetaminophen), medications to treat other complications, medications to prevent recurring attacks of transverse myelitis (corticosteroids and immunosuppressants), physical therapy, occupational therapy, and psychotherapy.

What is Guillain Barre Syndrome?

Guillain Barre syndrome is an acute inflammatory immune-mediated polyradiculoneuropathy. It is mainly characterized by tingling, progressive weakness, autonomic dysfunction, and pain. The signs and symptoms of Guillain Barre syndrome may include a pins and needle sensation in the fingers, ankles, or wrists, weakness in the legs that spreads to the upper body, difficulty with facial movements, double vision, unsteady walking, severe pain that worsens at night, rapid heart rate, low or high blood pressure and difficulty in breathing. The complications that are involved in Guillain Barre syndrome are breathing difficulties, residual numbness, pain, heart and blood pressure problems, bowel and bladder function problems, pressure sores, blood clots, and relapse. Guillain Barre syndrome can be caused by a respiratory or digestive tract infection, surgery, or vaccination-triggered autoimmune condition.

Moreover, Guillain Barre syndrome is diagnosed through medical history, physical examination, spinal tap (lumbar puncture), electromyography, and nerve conduction study. Furthermore, treatment options for Guillain Barre syndrome include plasma exchange (plasmapheresis), immunoglobulin therapy, medications to relieve pain and prevent blood clots, and physical therapy (movement of arm and legs by caregivers and training with adaptive devices such as wheelchair or braces).

What are the Similarities Between Transverse Myelitis and Guillain Barre Syndrome?

• Transverse myelitis and Guillain Barre syndrome are immunologically mediated polyneuropathies.
• They are rare neurological disorders.
• Both these conditions have a genetic predisposition.
• They are autoimmune conditions triggered by infectious agents and vaccines.
• Both these conditions can be diagnosed through nerve conduction tests.
• They can be treated through immunotherapies.

What is the Difference Between Transverse Myelitis and Guillain Barre Syndrome?

Transverse myelitis is a neurological disorder characterized by acute or subacute motor, sensory and autonomic spinal cord dysfunction, while Guillain Barre syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by tingling, progressive weakness, autonomic dysfunction, and pain. Thus, this is the key difference between transverse myelitis and Guillain Barre syndrome. Furthermore, the disease incidence of transverse myelitis is between 1 to 8 new cases per million per year, while the disease incidence of Guillain Barre syndrome is between 1 to 4 new cases per 100,000 population per year.

The below infographic presents the differences between transverse myelitis and Guillain Barre syndrome in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Transverse Myelitis vs Guillain Barre Syndrome

Transverse myelitis and Guillain Barre syndrome are neurological disorders that are autoimmune conditions. They have genetic predisposition though as of yet, no specific genetic risk loci have been identified for these neurological disorders. Transverse myelitis is characterized by acute or subacute motor, sensory and autonomic spinal cord dysfunction. Guillain Barre syndrome is characterized by tingling, progressive weakness, autonomic dysfunction, and pain. So, this is the key difference between transverse myelitis and Guillain Barre syndrome.

Reference:

1. “Transverse Myelitis.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 19 Jan. 2022.
2. “Guillain-Barré Syndrome.” Guillain-Barré Syndrome | Johns Hopkins Medicine, 19 Nov. 2019.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Transverse Myelitis” By JasonRobertYoungMD – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Guillain Barre Patterns” By Leonhard, S.E., Mandarakas, M.R., Gondim, F.A.A. et al. – Diagnosis and management of Guillain–Barré syndrome in ten steps. Nat Rev Neurol 15, 671–683 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-019-0250-9 (CC BY 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia