BACKGROUND In myasthenia gravis, antibody-mediated blockade of acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction abolishes the naturally occurring 'safety factor' of synaptic transmission. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors provide temporary symptomatic treatment of muscle weakness, but there is controversy about their long-term efficacy, dosage and side effects. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the e...

Introduction. Myasthenia Gravis is an autoimmune disorder, which is clinically a neuromuscular illness that shows itself as muscular weakness and fatigue. The diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis depends on clinical evaluation, electrophysiological assessment, and autoantibody detection in serum. Known antibodies could be found in about 90% of the patients, which had a causative relation with disease...

The in vivo synthesis of diaphragm endplate acetylcholine receptors was estimated in mice treated daily with IgG from eight myasthenia gravis patients. Myasthenia gravis IgG preparations which had previously been shown to increase the rate of receptor degradation also increased the rate of receptor synthesis, suggesting the existence of a compensatory mechanism serving to stabilise the number o...

Introduction True myasthenia gravis, as distinct from the myasthenic syndrome (Eaton-Lambert syndrome), has not been described in association with neoplastic disease other than malignant thymoma (Simpson, 1958). A case of ocular/bulbar myasthenia gravis occurring in a patient with breast carcinoma is described in which the temporal relationship between the disorders is such that the association...

Myasthenia gravis is a disease of great challenge to the anesthesiologist, because it affects the neuromuscular junction. Anesthetic management involves either muscle relaxant or non-muscle relaxant techniques. This case report documents the safe use of fentanyl, propofol and sevoflurane combination guided by bispectral index, without the use of muscle relaxants in a patient with myasthenia gra...

The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, including dermatomyositis, are uncommon acquired autoimmune diseases, sometimes associated with interstitial lung disease. Myasthenia gravis, a separate autoimmune disorder involving the neuromuscular junction, has some overlapping clinical features but has only rarely been reported to occur simultaneously within the same patient. Here we present the firs...

Anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody was undetectable in 26/153 (17%) sera from myasthenia gravis patients assayed by standard RIA using human acetylcholine receptor. Eight of these were found to be positive with a modified protocol using a mixture of normal and denervated AChR, reducing the proportion of "negative" sera to 12%. Many of these were from patients with a short history; two ...

UNLABELLED The aim of the study was to assess factors concurring to fatal outcome of patients operated for thymoma with or without myasthenia gravis. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective observational study was carried out on a series of 10 patients treated for thymoma in the IIIrd Surgical Unit of "St. Spiridon" University Hospital. RESULTS Mean survival time was 4.45 years and mortality r...