POSSIBLE MYASTHENIA AND LEMS IN THE SAME PATIENT :CASE REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

ABSTRACT Myasthenia gravis (MG) together with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) in the same patient is rarely described. This is a case report of a patient who initially presented with myasthenia gravis and later complicated with presumably auto-immune LEMS. The patient was noted to be HIV positive. The interest lies in the behaviour of MG in immunocompromised patients and the electrophysiological changes at the neuromuscular junction in patients with both MG and LEMS. We present a patient who is HIV positive with a long history of MG and a possibly a more recent diagnosis of LEMS. RESUME L'association myasthenie et syndrome de Lambert-Eaton chez un patient est rarement decrit. Nous rapportons le cas d'un patient, VIH positif, s'etant presente initialement par une myasthenie, completee ulterieurement par un syndrome de Lambert Eaton vraisemblablement d'origine auto-immune et discutons les liens eventuels, au plan pathogenique. Key words : Myasthenia Gravis, Lambert Eaton myasthenic syndrome, HIV, Myasthenie, syndrome de Lambert-Eaton, virus d'immunodeficience acquise, VIH African Journal of Neurological Sciences Vol.23(2) 2004