A primary axonal form of Guillain–Barré syndrome was first described by Feasby and colleagues¹ in 1986. Initial indications were that this had a worse prognosis than demyelinating forms of the disease and it was suggested that recovery might require axonal regeneration along the entire length of the nerve fibre. In the intervening years it has become apparent that recovery from acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) may actually be either rapid or slow. This is confirmed in a paper by Hiraga and colleagues (this issue, pp 719–22),² and in addition they observed that in patients with slow recovery, clinical improvement to independent …