Guillain-Barré syndrome presenting as mimicking croup

Stridor is a commonly encountered presenting symptom of upper airway obstruction in the pediatric population. Although infection etiologies such as croup, retropharyngeal abscess, and epiglottitis predominate in the pediatric population, other less common etiologies must also be considered in the differential diagnosis. We report a case of 3-year-2-month-old girl who exhibited the following symptoms: progressive hoarseness, backing cough, and dyspnea. Initial clinical symptoms were mimicking croup. After admission, she developed progressive muscle weakness and areflexia. Flexible laryngoscopy showed bilateral vocal cord paralysis. Finally, she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). We emphasized that the early recognition of atypical presentations of GBS warrants further evaluation and appropriate management.