BrainWaves #18 Autoantibodies in acquired myasthenia

MedLink Neurology Podcast is delighted to feature selected episodes from BrainWaves, courtesy of James E Siegler MD, its originator and host. BrainWaves is an academic audio podcast whose mission is to educate medical providers through clinical cases and topical reviews in neurology, medicine, and the humanities, and episodes originally aired from 2016 to 2021. Originally released: July 18, 2017 Myasthenia gravis is a disorder characterized by proximal weakness, ptosis, and antibody formation against proteins at the neuromuscular junction. Most commonly, the protein targeted by antibodies is the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. However, research in the last 2 decades has identified a number of other antibody targets, which we have reviewed here in this BrainWaves brief. BrainWaves podcasts and online content are intended for medical education only and should not be used to guide medical decision-making in routine clinical practice. Any cases discussed in this episode are fictional and do not contain any patient health-identifying information. The content in this episode was vetted and approved by Grant T Liu. REFERENCES Dalmau J, Rosenfeld MR. Paraneoplastic syndromes of the CNS. Lancet Neurol 2008;7(4):327-40. PMID 18339348Evoli A, Lancaster E. Paraneoplastic disorders in thymoma patients. J Thorac Oncol 2014;9(9 Suppl 2):S143-7. PMID 25396312Gilhus NE, Verschuuren JJ. Myasthenia gravis: subgroup classification and therapeutic strategies. Lancet Neurol 2015;14(10):1023-36. PMID 26376969Hurst RL, Gooch CL. Muscle-specific receptor tyrosine kinase (MuSK) myasthenia gravis. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 2016;16(7):61. PMID 27170368Koneczny I, Cossins J, Vincent A. The role of muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) and mystery of MuSK myasthenia gravis. J Anat 2014;224(1):29-35. PMID 23458718 We believe that the principles expressed or implied in the podcast remain valid, but certain details may be superseded by evolving knowledge since the episode’s original release date.