Congenital myasthenic syndromes are a rare group of heterogeneous disorders affecting neuromuscular transmission. Recent identification and in-vitro functional analysis of some of the genetic mutations that cause these disorders correlates with previous electrophysiological, biochemical, pathological and therapeutic studies, and has advanced our understanding of neuromuscular transmission.

OPINION STATEMENT Autoimmune neuromuscular disorders in childhood include Guillain-Barré syndrome and its variants, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), juvenile myasthenia gravis (JMG), and juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM), along with other disorders rarely seen in childhood. In general, these diseases have not been studied as extensively as they have been in adults....

TOUCH MEDICAL MEDIA Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked disorder affecting one in 5,000 live male births which makes it the most common and most severe form of muscular dystrophy. The absence of the protein dystrophin leads to symptom onset typically between the ages of two to five years, with abnormal gait and frequent falls being hallmark signs. Other signs may include delays in ...

OBJECTIVES To describe the range of neuromuscular disorders which may be associated with cryptic coeliac disease. METHODS Nine patients were described with neuromuscular disorders associated with circulating antigliadin antibodies, whose duodenal biopsies later confirmed the diagnosis of coeliac disease. Neurological symptoms antedated the diagnosis of coeliac disease in all, and most had min...

It is a great pleasure to be asked to honour the memory of Dr. Baldev Singh by reviewing the field of autoantibodies in myasthenia gravis and other neurotransmission disorders. The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is the site of a number of different autoimmune and genetic disorders, and it is also the target of many neurotoxins from venomous snakes, spiders, scorpions and other species. The molecu...