[Myasthenia gravis: past, present and future].

Myasthenia gravis (MG) was first described in 17(th) century. It was after 1960s, when it became clear that MG was an autoimmune disease targeting AChR. Recently, anti-MuSK and anti-Lrp4 antibodies were found as novel antibodies in MG. In 1980s, in addition to cholinesterase inhibitors, high-dose corticosteroid treatment was introduced. This dramatically reduced the mortality rate of MG, but now we recognized that side effects of steroid have influenced patients significantly, and that high dose of steroid correlate with poor QOL. Since we have more means to treat MG at present, and also in the future, we should shift to the strategy in which steroid dose is kept low.