This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Investigations

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

There is an established series of tests for diagnosing myasthenia gravis:

  • diagnosis can be confirmed by observing an improvement in strength after administering a short-acting anticholinesterase drug, for example, edrophonium chloride.
  • electromyography may reveal that repetitive supramaximal nerve stimulation at low frequencies (3Hz) causes an abnormal decrement of the compound muscle potential due to blocking of transmission to individual muscle fibres
  • in approximately 75% of patients with ocular symptoms, acetylcholine receptor antibodies are present. These are present in approximately 90% of patients with generalised disease
  • a mediastinal computerise tomographic or magnetic resonance scan is required to detect a thymoma

N.B. anti-striated muscle antibody is associated with an increased risk of thymoma.

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.