title: The anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody test in suspected ocular myasthenia gravis.
abstract: Aim. To estimate the clinical significance of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody (anti-AChR-Ab) levels in suspected ocular myasthenia gravis. Methods. In total, 144 patients complaining of fluctuating diplopia and ptosis were evaluated for serum levels of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody and their medical charts were retrospectively reviewed. Subjects were classified into three groups: variable diplopia only, ptosis only, and both variable diplopia and ptosis. We investigated serum anti-AChR-Ab titer levels and performed thyroid autoantibody tests. Results. Patients' chief complaints were diplopia (N = 103), ptosis (N = 12), and their concurrence (N = 29). Abnormal anti-AChR-Ab was observed in 21 of 144 patients (14.1%). Between the three groups, mean age, number of seropositive patients, and mean anti-AChR-Ab level were not significantly different (P = 0.224, 0.073, and 0.062, resp.). Overall, 27.5% of patients had abnormal thyroid autoantibodies. Conclusion. The sensitivity of anti-AChR-Ab was 14.1% in suspected ocular myasthenia gravis and seropositivity in myasthenia gravis patients showed a high correlation with the presence of thyroid autoantibodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kim's Eye Hospital, Konyang University College of Medicine, Youngdeungpo 4th 156, Youngdeungpo-gu, Seoul 150-034, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Jin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kim's Eye Hospital, Konyang University College of Medicine, Youngdeungpo 4th 156, Youngdeungpo-gu, Seoul 150-034, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Min
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kim's Eye Hospital, Konyang University College of Medicine, Youngdeungpo 4th 156, Youngdeungpo-gu, Seoul 150-034, Republic of Korea ; Department of Ophthalmology, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon 302-718, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ungsoo Samuel
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Kim