ABSTRACT
The previous chapter discussed the unique sensitivity of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) to a variety of neurotoxins including biological, environmental, and chemical substances. Of more concern to the clinical neurologist are those situations that result from the direct effects of various pharmacologic agents routinely used in the practice of medicine that produce significant aberrations of neuromuscular transmission in susceptible individuals (e.g., those with disorders of neuromuscular transmission). Such deleterious events may be encountered in the outpatient arena as well as in the hospital setting. In some instances, the use of such drugs may seemingly precipitate a neuromuscular syndrome in a patient in whom the disorder was subclinical or in whom the disease was not previously recognized.
