Thymectomy and antimuscle antibodies in nonthymomatous myasthenia gravis.

Fredrik Romi, Nils E Gilhus, Jan E Varhaug, Andreas Myking, Geir O Skeie, Johan A Aarli

Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2003;998():481-90

PMID: 14592917

Full Text on Ovid Technologies, Inc. View on PubMed

Abstract

The clinical effect of thymectomy in early- and late-onset myasthenia gravis (MG) and the correlation to MG severity, pharmacological treatment, and antimuscle antibodies were examined in two series of consecutive acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody-positive nonthymoma MG patients. The results indicate a benefit of thymectomy in early-onset MG, but no obvious clinical benefit in late-onset MG. The presence of muscle autoantibodies did not influence the outcome of thymectomy in early-onset MG. In late-onset MG, improvement is least likely in patients with titin and/or RyR antibodies. Thymectomy should always be considered shortly after MG onset in early-onset MG patients and might only be considered in late-onset patients who have early-onset-like immunological characteristics.

Address: Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, N-5021 Bergen, Norway. [email protected]

DOI: 10.1196/annals.1254.062

Link outs

Free resources

Medical:

https://medlineplus.gov/myastheniagravis.html

Subscription / membership required

Full Text Sources:

MeSH Terms: Adult, Age of Onset, Aged, Antibodies, Autoantibodies, Blotting, Western, Connectin, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Muscle Proteins, Muscle Weakness, Myasthenia Gravis, Protein Kinases, Receptors, Cholinergic, Remission Induction, Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel, Severity of Illness Index, Thymectomy, Thymoma, Thymus Gland, Thymus Neoplasms, Treatment Outcome