SFEMG in ocular myasthenia gravis diagnosis

Clin Neurophysiol. 2000 Jul;111(7):1203-7. doi: 10.1016/s1388-2457(00)00307-2.

Abstract

Background and 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).

Results and conclusion: 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.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Autoantibodies / blood
  • Blepharoptosis / etiology
  • Cholinesterase Inhibitors
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Diplopia / etiology
  • Edrophonium
  • Electromyography / methods*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypothyroidism / diagnosis
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Muscle, Skeletal / pathology
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiopathology
  • Muscular Diseases / diagnosis
  • Myasthenia Gravis / blood
  • Myasthenia Gravis / diagnosis*
  • Myasthenia Gravis / physiopathology*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Pyridostigmine Bromide
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Autoantibodies
  • Cholinesterase Inhibitors
  • Edrophonium
  • Pyridostigmine Bromide