9/11/2012
I have a patient with the diagnosis of Guillain-Barre, occurred in December 2011. He is also presenting with repeating episodes of Urticaria and Angioedema. In his labs, we found an elevated C1q (155, with normal range 83-125mg/L), normal C4 and CH50, elevated B2 and gama fraction in immunoeletroforesis. Do these results mean anything? Have you ever heard of an association of Guiilain-Barre and Urticatia/Angioedema?

Thank you for your inquiry.

The elevated C1q is of no clinical significance to my knowledge. Complement is an acute phase reactant and levels often go up with any form of inflammation in a nonspecific fashion. Also, to my knowledge, there is no association between Guillain-Barré and urticaria/angioedema. In addition, I could find no such association with a literary search.

Thank you again for your inquiry and we hope this response is helpful to you.

Sincerely,
Phil Lieberman, M.D.