title: Autoantibody Testing in Neuromuscular Disorders, Part II: Neuromuscular Junction, Hyperexcitability, and Muscle Disorders.
abstract: In myasthenia gravis and Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, antibodies against ion channels are clearly related to pathogenesis; however, in the inflammatory myopathies, a link to disease causation is not as evident, except as a marker of autoimmunity. Autoantibody testing in patients with neuromuscular junction and skeletal muscle disorders is useful in diagnosis and, in some diseases, prognosis. This review briefly summarizes methods of autoantibody testing and then proceeds to a clinician-friendly guide to autoantibody testing of neuromuscular junction disorders, hyperexcitability syndromes, and inflammatory muscle diseases.
authors.affiliation: From *Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Louis Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University Hospital of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio; and daggerDepartment of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical school Dallas, Texas.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kaminski
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Santillan
authors.forename: G I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Wolfe