How To Diagnose Myasthenia Gravis (MG)?
In order to determine if a person have myasthenia gravis or not, the doctors reviews the medical history, symptoms, and do a physical exam. A healthcare professional rule out the possibility of other systemic illnesses too by doing a series of neurological examinations and blood testing. A doctor performs the following series of diagnostic tests for ruling out the condition of myasthenia gravis: [6]
Neurological examination
A comprehensive neurological examination allows the doctor to properly check the following:
- Muscle tone
- Muscle strength
- Reflexes
- Coordination
- Balance
- Senses of sight and touch
- Ice pack test
Ice pack test checks if a patients suffers from weakness in their eyelids or not. To perform ice pack test, a doctor might place an ice bag on the eyelids for a few minutes. In case of people having myasthenia gravis the cooling effect of the ice pack might temporarily enhance the function of eyelid muscles thus making the patient a myasthenia gravis positive.