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Multifocal Motor Neuropathy

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Neuromuscular Disease

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Abstract

Multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) is a relatively recently recognized clinical entity that was formally described by Parry and Clark in the mid-1980s (1,2). The clinical presentation in each of the patients in this original series had suggested a diagnosis of motor neuron disease, but nerve conduction studies showed multifocal conduction block in motor nerves. The recognition that this syndrome represented a form of a chronic demyelinating neuropathy has spawned much debate regarding its relationship to other chronic demyelinating neuropathies such as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and the Lewis-Sumner syndrome, and has also raised the possibility that patients with the disorder might respond to immunosuppressive therapy. What are the clinical and electrophysiological features of MMN, and how does it differ from other chronic demyelinating neuropathies? What is the diagnostic accuracy of anti GM1 antibodies? Do patients with MMN respond to immunosuppressive therapy, and what is the long term prognosis for patients with this disorder? These and other questions are the focus of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA

    Michael Benatar MBChB, MS, DPhil

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  1. Michael Benatar MBChB, MS, DPhil
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA

    Michael Benatar MBChB, MS, DPhil

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© 2006 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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Benatar, M. (2006). Multifocal Motor Neuropathy. In: Benatar, M. (eds) Neuromuscular Disease. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-106-2_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-106-2_13

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-627-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-106-2

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