• Guillain-Barré
• Barré-Liéou syndrome

Sometimes, non-entities are instructive. Barré’s name is commemorated in the Guillain-Barré eponym,¹ but unfortunately, also in the contentious Barré-Liéou syndrome.^2,3 Barré described a syndrome of the posterior cervical sympathetic nerves and its frequent cause—chronic cervical arthritis. Barré-Liéou syndrome has the synonyms brachialgia paraesthetica nocturna, cervical migraine, chronic cervical arthritis, migraine cervicale, neurovertebral dystonia, syndrome sympathique cervicale postérieur,⁴ and vertigo of cervical arthrosis. The number of synonyms appears to be inversely related to the soundness of the diagnosis.

It has not been agreed as a neurological entity, …