Cat-scratch disease combined with Guillain-Barré syndrome: a case report and literature review

Abstract:

Cat-scratch disease (CSD) is an infectious disease caused by the invasion of Bartonella henselae into the human body, its clinical manifestations are varied, and neurological manifestations are relatively rare, which is easy to be misdiagnosed. A 45-year-old male was admitted to a hospital with "right groin mass gradually increased for 10 days, limb numbness and weakness for 2 days". During the course of disease, patient developed fever, enlarged right inguinal lymph nodes, symmetrical paralysis of both lower extremities and sensory disturbance, cerebrospinal fluid examination showed protein-cell separation characteristics, which was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), through pathologic examination, previous cat-scratch history and detection of Bartonella henselae by meta-genomic next-generation sequencing, diagnosis of CSD was finally confirmed. In this paper, a case of CSD complicated with GBS was reported and literature review was conducted, so as to improve the clinical understanding on cat-scratch disease.