title: Prednisone eliminates the electrophysiological decrement of myotonia congenita.
abstract: The physiological effect of corticosteroids on myotonia is not reported. We studied a 44-year-old woman with myotonia congenita whose myotonic symptoms improved on prednisone for an unrelated facial palsy. Ten-hertz repetitive stimulation showed a 46% decrement between the 7th and 20th responses at baseline. Prednisone reduced the decrement in a dose-related fashion, to 14% on 20 mg per day and to 5% on 40 mg per day. The short exercise test also improved considerably. Corticosteroids could be further investigated for symptomatic myotonia.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chelimsky
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Westbrook