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PROSTIGMIN AS AN AID IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF MYASTHENIA GRAVIS

1937; American Medical Association; Volume: 108; Issue: 16 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1001/jama.1937.02780160021006

2376-8118

A. McGehee Harvey,

Parkinson's Disease and Spinal Disorders

Our object in this communication is to demonstrate the value of prostigmin as an aid in the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis. In the course of the study this drug was used with immediate but transient improvement in nine cases of the disease, and with neither subjective nor objective changes in fourteen cases of various neurologic disorders. The value of this drug in the treatment of these patients will also be discussed. In recent years interest in myasthenia gravis has been stimulated by the discovery of new therapeutic agents and by metabolic studies. Walker 1 in 1934 reported the improvement that resulted from the subcutaneous injection of physostigmine salicylate. This drug was tried because it was thought that the disease might be due to a curare-like poisoning of the motor nerve endings or the myoneural junctions. Feb. 8, 1935, Walker demonstrated before the Clinical Section of the Royal Society of Medicine