Abstract
A patient who developed generalized autoimmune myasthenia gravis six years after the spontaneous remission of a stiff-man syndrome is described. He also suffered from chronic active hepatitis and had radiological evidence of a thymoma. He did not have diabetes mellitus. Besides anti-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antibodies, anti-nuclear, anti-DNA, anti-mitochondrial and anti-skeletal muscle antibodies were found in his serum, while islet-cell antibodies were absent. Immunocytochemistry studies failed to demonstrate autoantibodies to GABA-ergic nerve terminals, although an aspecific neuronal immunostaining was observed. The clinical and immunological features of this case support the hypothesis of a dysimmune pathogenesis of SMS, also in cases not associated with autoimmunity to GABA-ergic nerve terminals. Furthermore, a relationship between thymoma and the neurological syndromes discussed could be considered.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 177-180 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Italian Journal of Neurological Sciences |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 1990 |
Keywords
- autoimmune myasthenia gravis
- paraneoplastic neurological syndromes
- Stiff-man syndrome
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)
- Clinical Neurology