Nov 9, 2010

1) NMDA receptor antibodies and 2) Topic of the month: Neuro-muscular disease. This podcast for the Neurology Journal begins and closes with Dr. Robert Gross, Editor-in-Chief, briefly discussing highlighted articles from the print issue of Neurology. In the second segment Dr. Ted Burns interviews Drs. Harald Pruss, Josep Dalmau and Klaus-Peter Wandinger about their paper on NMDA receptor antibodies. In the next segment, Dr. Ryan Overman is reading our e-Pearl of the week about acute intermittent porphyria as a mimic of Guillain-Barré syndrome. In the next part of the podcast Dr. Beau Bruce interviews Dr. Ted Burns for the next part of our discussion on diagnostic testing for myasthenia gravis for our Lesson of the Week. Over the subsequent three weeks, we will continue to highlight other areas of the frontal cortex. The participants had nothing to disclose except Drs. Dalmau, Wandinger, Overman, and Burns. Dr. Dalmau has received royalties from a patent re: Ma2 autoantibody test and has patents pending re: NMDA and GABAB receptor autoantibody tests (license fee payments received from EUROIMMUN AG); and receives research support from funding from EUROIMMUN AG and the NIH/NCI [RO1CA107192 (PI) and RO1CA89054-06A2 (PI)].Dr. Wandinger is a full-time employee of and holds stock in EUROIMMUN AG. Dr. Overman serves as Deputy Editor on the Neurology® Resident and Fellow Section editorial team and the Neurology® Podcast Committee.Dr. Burns receives a stipend as Podcast Editor for Neurology®, and performs EMG studies in his neuromuscular practice (30% effort).