
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 1, 1994                   TAG: 9407010085
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

13-YEAR-OLD DIES OF RARE DISORDER

A Roanoke girl died last week of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare and usually nonfatal illness.

Amanda Johnson, a 13-year-old Ruffner Middle School student, died June 20 at Community Hospital after she went into cardiac arrest.

"It's an extreme - and I do mean extreme - rarity for [death] to happen," said Dr. Tom Wilson, an adult and pediatric neurology specialist in Roanoke.

"But cardiac arrest isn't something you can predict or can prepare for," he said.

The illness strikes 4,000 Americans yearly. Four in five people afflicted by Guillain-Barre make full to nearly full recoveries.

Wilson, who has practiced in Roanoke for nine years, said the team of doctors he works with treats an average of one Guillain-Barre patient a year.

Johnson's is the first fatal case, he said.

Paralyzed by the illness, Johnson died two weeks after her condition was identified.

In almost all Guillain-Barre cases, patients are kept on respirators, and blood pressure and other vital signs are monitored continuously to check for irregularities associated with the paralysis.

Research reveals that the disorder shows up one to eight weeks after an infection occurs, or if there is stimulus to the nervous system caused by car accidents, pregnancy, surgery or other occurrences.

In Guillain-Barre syndrome, known since the early 1800s, antibodies in the blood mistakenly attach themselves to normal tissue and destroy it.

Wilson said Johnson's mother, Sylvia McCollum, indicated that her daughter had an allergic reaction before the onset of the syndrome.

McCollum could not be reached for comment Thursday.

"The symptoms of the disorder usually worsen for a one- to three-week period, a plateau occurs, and then patients usually start to get better," Wilson said.

There is no test for Guillain-Barre syndrome. A diagnosis is made based on characteristic signs and symptoms and by ruling out other possibilities.

A progressive weakness of more than one limb and loss of reflex when tendons in the knees, elbows or ankles are tapped are early signs of the disorder.

In most cases, muscle weakness affects both sides of the body equally. Facial nerves often are affected, causing slurred speech and blurred vision. Symptoms usually progress rapidly, getting worse within hours.

There is no specific therapy for Guillain-Barre syndrome, but physicians have had some success tempering its symptoms by administering certain treatments early in the progression of the illness.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB