title: Neuromyelitis optica associated with myasthenia gravis: characteristic phenotype in Japanese population.
abstract: We report two female patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO, Devic's syndrome) following or coincidental with myasthenia gravis (MG). Their illnesses were characterized by subacute myelitis with optic neuritis, high serum levels of muscle acetylcholine receptor antibody, and autoimmune thyroid disease. Both patients fulfilled the clinical criteria of NMO, however, NMO-IgG, autoantibody against aquaporin-4 water channel, was absent from their sera. Both NMO and MG are relatively rare diseases. The considerable coincidence of these two disorders suggests that there is a subgroup of patients with NMO having a common immunological pathogenesis with MG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Neurobiology of Aging, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yachie
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000906:Antibodies / Q000378:metabolism; D051401:Aquaporin 4 / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009471:Neuromyelitis Optica / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010641:Phenotype; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D051401:Aquaporin 4