Bickerstaff encephalitis entities

Clinic

• BBE is a rare, post-infectious, autoimmune disease of nervous system
• BBE is a variant of Guillain Barré syndrome and Miller Fisher syndrome.
• BBE is highly associated with the presence of IgG anti-GQ1b antibodies

Sign / Symptoms

• External ophthalmoplegia
• Ataxia
• Lower limb arreflexia
• Extensor plantar response
• Altered consciousness (drowsiness, stupor or coma)
• Other symptoms include
  • Dysarthria
  • Hyper reflexia
  • Limb weakness

Etiology

• The most common infections associated with BBE are C. jejuni and H. influenzae
• A case study reported on an episode of BBE about one week following a positive SARS-CoV-2 test.

Related disease

• Pharyngeal-cervical-brachial (PCB)

• GBS esp pharyngeal-brachial-cervical variant
• MFS
• Acute ophthalmoparesis without ataxia
• Wernicke’s encephalopathy
• MS
• Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis
• Brainstem Strokes / Tumors
• Myasthenia gravis