Myasthenia gravis, the best understood autoimmune disorder, serves as a model not only for study of the pathogenesis and treatment of all autoimmune diseases, but also for understanding synaptic function. In Myasthenia Gravis and Related Disorders, Henry J. Kaminski, MD, and an international panel of expert clinicians and leading scientists comprehensively review the clinical and basic science of this disease and its relatives, including acquired neuromyotonia and Lambert-Eaton syndrome. For the clinician, the book offers a rich portrait of the wide range of signs and symptoms that make these diseases difficult to diagnose. Replete with beautiful illustrations that carry the discussion well beyond the typical textbook, the authors review in depth the available diagnostic methods and their limitations, offer practical treatment recommendations based on years of experience, and discuss several promising treatment strategies now emerging. For the basic scientist, the text illuminates neuromuscular structure and function (the site of autoimmune pathology) and describes in detail the acetylcholine receptor (the central target of pathology in myasthenia gravis). Authoritative and insightful, Myasthenia Gravis and Related Disorders follows this difficult illness from molecule to patient adaptation to illness, translating sophisticated evidence-based medicine into approaches directly useful in the doctor's office for effective patient diagnosis and treatment
CONTENT
1 Neuromuscular Junction Physiology and Pathophysiology -- 2 Acetylcholine Receptor Structure -- 3 Immunopathogenesis of Myasthenia Gravis -- 4 Clinical Presentation and Epidemiology of Myasthenia Gravis -- 5 Ocular Myasthenia -- 6 Thymoma-Associated Myasthenia Gravis -- 7 Electrodiagnosis of Neuromuscular Junction Disorders -- 8 Specific Antibodies in the Diagnosis and Management of Autoimmune Disorders of Neuromuscular Transmission and Related Diseases -- 9 Treatment of Myasthenia Gravis -- 10 Neurocritical Care of Myasthenia Gravis Crisis -- 11 Thymectomy -- 12 Lambert-Eaton Syndrome -- 13 Acquired Neuromyotonia -- 14 Congenital Myasthenic Syndromes -- 15 Toxic Neuromuscular Transmission Disorders -- 16 Psychological and Social Consequences of Myasthenia Gravis -- Appendix: Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Recommendations for Clinical Research Standards
