The Department of Neuromuscular diseases and Neuroimmunology conducts clinical, diagnostic assessments and research on neuromuscular diseases and autoimmune diseases of the nervous system in collaboration with Humanitas university. The Department specialists treat almost 3,000 patients annually.
Some of the diseases evaluated by the Unit include:
- Immune-mediated polyneuropathy such as Guillain Barre syndrome (GBS)
- Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)
- Multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN)
- Polyneuropathy associated with monoclonal gammopathy
- Paraneoplastic neuropathies
- Myasthenia and myasthenic syndromes
The Unit is also involved in the diagnosis and therapy of motor neuron disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in suspected paraneoplastic or immuno genesis and multiple sclerosis, for which they provide advanced medical therapies.
The Unit takes part in many therapeutic multicenter studies in the scope of dysimmune polyneuropathy both nationally and internationally. An important diagnostic activity is carried out on patients referred from other Italian centers that rely on the high specialization of this unit that assesses patients in the clinic, in day hospital and through inpatient processes. The team runs specialist examinations, functional assessments, autoantibody assessments and neurophysiological examinations.
The laboratory of Neuroimmunology “Giorgio Spagnol” (laboratory dedicated to Giorgio Spagnol, a brilliant young researcher who died a few years ago) is also involved in terms of the dosage of the main antibodies associated with dysimmune neuropathies such as MAG; GM1, GD1a, GD1b, GM2 and GQ1b, sulfatides, neuron/cerebellum for paraneoplastic syndromes. All services can be carried out in agreement with the National Health Service on samples sent from other centers or made directly at the Clinical Institute at Humanitas.
