Autoantibody Testing in Neuromuscular Disorders, Part II: Neuromuscular Junction, Hyperexcitability, and Muscle Disorders

In myasthenia gravis and Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, antibodies against ion channels are clearly related to pathogenesis; however, in the inflammatory myopathies, a link to disease causation is not as evident, except as a marker of autoimmunity. Autoantibody testing in patients with neuromuscular junction and skeletal muscle disorders is useful in diagnosis and, in some diseases, prognosis. This review briefly summarizes methods of autoantibody testing and then proceeds to a clinician-friendly guide to autoantibody testing of neuromuscular junction disorders, hyperexcitability syndromes, and inflammatory muscle diseases.