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A role for voltage-gated potassium channel antibodies in nociceptive pain was recently identified. These antibodies were initially identified in patients with Isaacs syndrome, a disorder of neuromuscular hyperexcitability, characterized on electromyography by high-frequency neuromyotonic discharges.
To investigate pain as a manifestation of VGKC-complex autoimmunity, researchers reviewed data from 54,853 patients tested for VGKC-complex immunoglobulin G (IgG), of whom 1992 patients had the antibodies. Of 316 patients evaluated neurologically, 159 (50%) had pain as an initial symptom; 114 of these patients had additional neurological manifestations. Pain was neuropathic or nociceptive, could be regional or diffuse, and typically required mult…