Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy or subacute Guillain-Barré syndrome? Not always an easy differential diagnosis

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an immuno-mediated disorder of the peripheral nervous system with an acute onset of 2–4 weeks, and a monophasic course. In the subacute variant the symtpoms nadir is reached in 4–8 weeks. However, in sporadic cases the onset and the evolution of the disease may be different than expected, leading to significant diagnostic difficulties.