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Utility of anti‐Hu antibodies in the diagnosis of paraneoplastic sensory neuropathy
Author(s) -
Molinuevo Jose Luis,
Graus Francesc,
Serrano Carmen,
Reñe Ramón,
Guerrero Antonio,
Illa Isabel
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410440620
Subject(s) - medicine , antibody , ganglioside , lung cancer , cancer , sensory neuropathy , carcinoma , pathology , gastroenterology , immunology , biology , biochemistry
Abstract Anti‐Hu antibodies (Hu‐Abs) were positive in 40 patients with paraneoplastic sensory neuropathy (PSN) and in 1 patient with idiopathic sensory neuropathy in a series of 126 patients who presented with clinical features suggestive of PSN. The specificity of Hu‐Abs was 99% and the sensitivity was 82%. Nine (18%) PSN patients were Hu‐Ab–negative, and their sera did not harbor other specific anti‐neuronal of anti‐ganglioside antibodies. Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) was the leading neoplasm in the Hu‐Ab–positive (79%) and Hu‐Ab–negative (44%) groups. This study confirms the value of Hu‐Abs for the diagnosis of PSN and SCLC and also emphasizes that in patients with possible PSN, the absence of Hu‐Abs does not exclude cancer, particularly in those patients with risk factors for SCLC.