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Diagnostic sensitivity of the laboratory tests in myasthenia gravis
Author(s) -
Oh Shin J.,
Kim Doo E.,
Kuruoglu R.,
Bradley Ronald J.,
Dwyer Donard
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.880150616
Subject(s) - myasthenia gravis , repetitive nerve stimulation , medicine , acetylcholine receptor , antibody , gastroenterology , immunology , receptor
The diagnostic sensitivity of three laboratory tests [serum antiacetylcholine receptor antibody (AChR‐ab) assay, the repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS) test, and, the single fiber EMG (SFEMG)] for myasthenia gravis (MG) was compared in 120 patients. In all cases, at least one of the tests was abnormal. SFEMG was the most sensitive test, being abnormal in 92% of cases, followed by the RNS test (77%) and the AChR‐ab assay (73%). SFEMG was abnormal in all cases with negative ACHR‐ab and RNS tests, in 97% of cases with negative AChR‐ab assay, in 89% of cases with negative RNS test, and in 89% of cases with mild MG. We conclude that one of these three tests is abnormal in all cases of MG, and that the SFEMG is most sensitive in the diagnosis of MG.