The use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) in the management of patients with neuroimmune disorders has shown a progressive trend over the last few years. Despite the wide use of IVIg, consensus on its optimal use is deficient. The European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) guidance regulations offer consensus recommendations for optimal use of IVIg. The effectiveness of IVIg has be...

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is considered to be an autoimmune disorder of neuromuscular transmission and is rare in childhood. We report 3 juvenile MG (JMG) cases of extended thymectomy (ETMX) combined postoperative high-dose steroid therapy. All patients developed MG symptoms under the age of 14 years and were given cholinergic drugs and had generalized MG: the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of Ameri...

Background: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is the most common disorder of neuromuscular junction in which autoantibodies develop against nicotinic acetylcholine receptor for unknown reasons. The association of immunomodulator genes with different autoimmune disease has been studied in recent years. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate correlation between a genetic variation in Stromal Ce...

Antibodies to the acetylcholine receptor and HLA antigens have been studied in patients with myasthenia gravis occurring in association with penicillamine treatment. The properties of the antiacetylcholine receptor in these patients differed from those in patients with idiopathic myasthenia gravis in terms of specificity and affinity. These patients had an increased prevalence of HLA Bw35 and D...

Castleman's disease is a rare disorder characterized by benign tumors that may develop in the lymph node tissue throughout the body. Castleman's disease associated with myasthenia gravis is an especially rare disease. Only less than 10 cases have been reported in the world literature. The cause of Castleman's disease is associated with immune mediated reaction, and myasthenia gravis also develo...

Among human neoplasms, thymomas are well known for their association with paraneoplastic autoimmune diseases such as myasthenia gravis. However, regarding rare metaplastic thymoma, only one case of an association with myasthenia gravis has been reported. Here, we present the second case of a 44-year-old woman with metaplastic thymoma associated with myasthenia gravis. In metaplastic thymoma, in...

The role of genetic factors in the causation of myasthenia gravis is not clear. Oppenheim, as early as 1900, reported familial instances of myasthenia and suggested that genetic factors were involved. On the other hand, Ford in 1937 stated, 'there is never any familial or hereditary tendency in myasthenia gravis'. However, since then, there have been several reports of familial instances of mya...

Thirty seven Chinese adults and 23 children in Hong Kong with myasthenia gravis were tested for HLA-A and -B antigens and acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody. HLA BW46 had a significantly increased prevalence in patients with juvenile onset ocular myasthenia gravis. Only one third of the juvenile ocular patients had AChR antibodies and the titres were generally low. In the adult patients tak...

BACKGROUND Myasthenia gravis is a specific autoimmune disease characterised by weakness and fatigue. Respiratory muscle weakness has been studied using the determination of maximal respiratory pressures, but the response of respiratory centres is not well characterised. This study was undertaken to determine the breathing pattern and the central ventilatory drive in patients with mild and moder...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate dysphagia at the oropharyngeal stage of swallowing and to determine the pathophysiological mechanisms of dysphagia in patients with myasthenia gravis. METHODS Fifteen patients with myasthenia gravis with dysphagia and 10 patients without dysphagia were investigated by a combined electrophysiological and mechanical method described previously. Laryngeal movements were det...