[The repetitive stimulation test in the diagnosis of neuromuscular fatigue syndromes. Critical review of the results in 62 cases].

The usefulness of the method of the repetitive stimulation of the peripheral nerves has been widely accepted since the original observations of Desmedt on patients with Myasthenia Gravis, and this test is now routinely performed in many EMG laboratories. On the other hand the technical difficulties and the variability of the results in the various syndromes of neuromuscular fatigability have put some criticism on the value of the test as a routine examination. The AA. make a critical review of the clinical history and of the EMG pattern of 62 patients, who underwent one or more tests of repetitive stimulation during a period of four years, under the suspicion of Myasthenia Gravis or myasthenic syndrome. The AA. give full details of the employed technique and analyze the results either of the 27 cases with Myasthenia Gravis, either of the 15 cases of Myasthenia Gravis with ocular involvement, either of the 16 cases with myasthenic syndrome and of the 4 cases of psychogenic fatigability. The only typical changes of the motor response are its post-tetanic decrease in the not-treated cases of diffuse form of Myasthenia Gravis and its facilitation in the myasthenic syndromes associated with bronchial carcinoma.