About 5-10% of patients with myasthenia gravis concomitantly have other autoimmune diseases. However, the coexistence of myasthenia gravis and pernicious anemia is rare. Here, we report a 73-year-old Taiwanese woman who developed myasthenia gravis 5 months after the onset of pernicious anemia. Her myasthenic and pernicious anemia symptoms markedly improved after pyridostigmine, prednisolone and...

BACKGROUND There are only rare reports of myasthenia gravis complicating human immunodeficiency virus infection. The role of immunomodulatory therapy is unknown. METHODS Case report and literature review. RESULTS The diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus infection followed that of myasthenia gravis in a 35-year-old man. Clinical and electrophysiological features were diagnostic of gener...

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease with antibodies directed against the acetylcholine receptor at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). Anesthetists have a special interest in myasthenia gravis because of its interaction with various anesthetic agents and because many myasthenics require a thymectomy to control their disease. Much has been written about the critical care management and...

Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune disease of neuromuscular transmission resulting in fatigable skeletal muscle weakness. Preeclampsia is a multisystem disease of pregnancy which is characterised by hypertension and involvement of one or more organ systems. Both diseases are responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality for mother and fetus. The occurrence of both preeclampsia and...

Drug-induced myasthenic syndromes are caused by numerous medications of various classes. D-penicillamine and interferon alpha lead to an autoimmune process similar to spontaneous myasthenia gravis, whereas many other agents produce weakness by a direct compromise of neuromuscular transmission. A particular problem in clinical practice is the deterioration of neuromuscular transmission by anesth...

The mechanisms that underlie the development and maintenance of autoimmunity in myasthenia gravis are poorly understood. In this investigation, we evaluate the role of survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family, in humans and in two animal models. We identified survivin expression in cells with B lymphocyte and plasma cells markers, and in the thymuses of patients with myas...

Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy is an autoimmune disease with progressive and relapsing courses. The main clinical presentations are diffuse deep tendon hyporeflexia or areflexia and symmetric proximal-distal muscles weakness. Myasthenia gravis is also an immune mediated disease with fluctuating ocular and bulbar symptoms and sometimes weakness. Although both myasthenia gravis...

BACKGROUND The amount of sedation and muscle relaxation of the jaw may have an impact on complications caused by laryngeal mask airway (LMA). The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of low-dose Atracurium on conditions of insertion, complications, and hemodynamic responses to LMA insertion following induction of anesthesia with propofol, in patients undergoing cataract surgery. PATIEN...

BACKGROUND Vocal cord sequelae and postoperative hoarseness during general anesthesia are a significant source of morbidity for patients and a source of liability for anesthesiologists. Several risk factors leading to laryngeal injury have been identified in the past. However, whether the quality of tracheal intubation affects their incidence or severity is still unclear. METHODS Eighty patie...

Autoimmune myasthenia gravis is a T-cell-dependent, antibody-mediated, rare neuromuscular disorder. Interleukin-4, acting via interleukin-4 receptor alpha, plays a pivotal role in B-cell differentiation and antibody production and has been implicated to influence disease progression in experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis. Polymorphisms of the interleukin-4 receptor alpha gene have been sh...