Update on the evaluation and therapy of autoimmune neuromuscular junction disorders

Many recent strides have increased our understanding of the immune-mediated diseases of neuromuscular junction transmission. Nevertheless, patients with myasthenia gravis and the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome often present diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to clinicians. Both conditions have a wide range of clinical presentations and the number of treatment modalities available to these patients continues to increase. This creates a need for an individualized approach for managing these patients. Other important controversies exist because the benefits of some treatments are not firmly established by clinical trials. After a brief review of the pertinent scientific basis of these diseases, we focus on present issues governing the clinical evaluation and management of myasthenia gravis and the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome.