Severe neonatal myasthenia due to maternal anti-MuSK antibodies

Neuromuscul Disord. 2008 Jun;18(6):443-6. doi: 10.1016/j.nmd.2008.03.006. Epub 2008 Apr 22.

Abstract

Anti-MuSK antibodies have been reported in about 40-50% of patients with seronegative myasthenia gravis. Curiously, this condition has never been reported in association with fetal or transient neonatal myasthenia gravis, despite a known female predominance. We report the case of a 22-year-old woman who developed seronegative, mild steroid-responsive myasthenia gravis. When aged 26, she gave birth to a baby boy with neonatal myasthenia gravis characterized by hypotonia, stridor and sucking difficulties. Intubation was required for a few weeks. Anti-MuSK antibodies were assessed and found positive in both patients. Progressive hydramnios during the last trimester, with a decrease in spontaneous fetal mobility in the last weeks, long-lasting stridor, ptosis and occasional difficulties in swallowing liquids till two years of age, despite anti-MuSK antibodies becoming negative, suggest a fetal onset. The possible pathophysiology of this disorder, based on recent findings on the expression and function of MuSK protein, is reviewed.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antibodies / adverse effects*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Mother-Child Relations
  • Myasthenia Gravis / chemically induced*
  • Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / immunology*
  • Receptors, Cholinergic / immunology*

Substances

  • Antibodies
  • Receptors, Cholinergic
  • MUSK protein, human
  • Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases