Magnetic resonance imaging findings in Guillain-Barre syndrome caused by Zika virus infection

Abstract

The recent Zika virus infection (Zika) epidemic in Brazil has been associated with neurological anomalies, including an increase in the number of cases of microcephaly and, more recently, Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) [1, 2]. The correlation between Zika and GBS was first reported in 2013 in French Polynesia [3]. Committees and research groups are being created internationally to study this arbovirus. Since May of 2015, authorities have been issuing warnings about Zika transmission in Brazil, describing its epidemic potential as being similar to that of dengue fever and chikungunya [1, 2].

We would like to present the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) neural axis findings in a 51-year-old female patient who developed neurological symptoms compatible with acute demyelinating polyneuropathy, characteristic of GBS [4]. She presented in our emergency department with symptoms suggestive of Zika including difficulty walking, non-purulent conjunctivitis, rash, myalgia, and arthralgia for 12 days.