Stimulated jitter with concentric needle in 42 myasthenia gravis patients.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate jitter parameters in myasthenia gravis in stimulated frontalis and extensor digitorum muscles using the concentric needle electrode.

METHODS

Forty-two confirmed myasthenia gravis patients, being 22 males (aged 45.6±17.2 years-old) were studied. Jitter was expressed as the mean consecutive difference (MCD).

RESULTS

MCD in extensor digitorum was 61.6 µs (abnormal in 85.7%) and in frontalis 57.3 µs (abnormal in 88.1%). Outliers represented 90.5% for extensor digitorum and 88.1% for frontalis. At least one jitter parameter was abnormal in 90.5% of the combined studies. Acetylcholine receptor antibody was abnormal in 85.7% of the cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Stimulated jitter recordings measured from muscles using concentric needle electrode can be used for myasthenia gravis diagnosis with high sensitivity. Extensive normative studies are still lacking and, therefore, borderline findings should be judged with great caution.