Main description:

Immune-mediated neurological disorders present an increasing challenge to neu- rologists. Recent advances have identified new antibodies, new effector mechanisms and new diagnostic tests; these have greatly enhanced our understanding of disease aetiology and opened up therapeutic opportunities, but a critical understanding of this fast -developing field is not easy to find. This volume was conceived following a very successful course on neuroimmu- no logy in Bergamo in 2000, and was written mainly by clinicians who are active in the laboratory. It will help to keep practising neurologists and neuroimmuno- logists abreast of the most recent developments, and to assess new information more critically. Angela Vincent and Gianvito Martino should be congratulated on master-min- ding this timely and practical text. July 2001 J. Newsom-Davis Professor Emeritus University of Oxford Table of Contents Introduction -Approaches to Understanding Immune-Mediated Neurological Disorders: Measuring and Evaluating Autoantibodies to Neuronal Antigens G. MARTINO, A. VINCENT ..**.*...*...*..**...*.**..*...**.**...

Contents:

- Approaches to Understanding Immune-Mediated Neurological Disorders: Measuring and Evaluating Autoantibodies to Neuronal Antigens.- 1 - New Antibodies to Neuronal and Muscle Antigens.- 2 - Pregnancy and Myasthenia Gravis.- 3 - Immunological Mechanisms in the Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome.- 4 - Immunotherapy of Myasthenia Gravis.- 5 - Ontogeny of Skeletal Muscle Cells.- 6 - Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies: Immunological Aspects.- 7 - Immunological Mechanisms of Paraneoplastic Nervous System Diseases.- 8 - Clinical Presentation and Mechanisms of Immune-Mediated Cerebellar Ataxia.- 9 - Stiff-Man Syndrome: Pathogenetic, Nosological and Therapeutic Considerations.- 10 - Paraneoplastic Neuropathies: a Neuropathological Overview.- 11 - Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome in Childhood.- 12 - Epilepsy and Autoantibodies.- 13 - Primary and Secondary Vasculitis of the Central Nervous System.