SFEMG in ocular myasthenia gravis diagnosis.
OBJECTIVE
In typical cases, the patient's history and clinical examination make it possible to diagnose ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG). But, in many cases a clear clinical picture is not present and OMG diagnosis is very difficult because gold diagnostic standard tests are not available. The diagnostic tests for OMG are usually unable to display a good sensitivity and specificity simultaneously. In this paper, we studied 86 cases submitted for suspected OMG.


METHODS
The patients were studied clinically and with various other tests used in OMG diagnosis (SFEMG, repetitive nerve stimulation, Ab anti AChR titration, tensilon test).


CONCLUSIONS
SFEMG showed the highest sensitivity (100%) while Ab anti AChR showed the highest specificity (100%). To our knowledge this is the largest population of suspected OMG studied using most of the diagnostic parameters, reported in the literature.
Padua
L
L
Department of Neurology, Università Cattolica, Rome, Italy. lpadua@mclink.it
Stalberg
E
E
LoMonaco
M
M
Evoli
A
A
Batocchi
A
A
Tonali
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D001763:Blepharoptosis / Q000209:etiology; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004172:Diplopia / Q000209:etiology; D004491:Edrophonium; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011729:Pyridostigmine Bromide; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D001323:Autoantibodies; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D004491:Edrophonium; D011729:Pyridostigmine Bromide