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15 - Myasthenia gravis
from Part II - Neurological diseases
- By Therese A. Treves
Albert Hofman, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Richard Mayeux, Columbia University, New York
Book:

Investigating Neurological Disease

Published online:

29 September 2009

Print publication:

30 August 2001, pp 205-217
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Summary

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare disease, even though its incidence and prevalence rates are growing: for example, its prevalence was 7.8-14.2 per 100 000 population in the 1970s and 1980s while it was 2.5-6.4 per 100 000 in the 1960s. Transient neonatal myasthenia occurs in 8-14% of births to myasthenic mothers. Myasthenia was also found to be relatively frequently associated with malignancy. The diagnosis of MG is based on the clinical findings of weakness and fatigue in muscle group(s), aggravated by exercise and relieved by rest. Edrophonium is a very short-acting anticholinesterase drug used as a diagnostic probe. The prognosis of MG depends upon the age of the patient at onset of the disease, the clinical stage, and the presence or absence of thymoma. Five years after MG was diagnosed, the probability of achieving complete remission reaches 13% while 33% achieve pharmacological remission, that is, symptom-free while under treatment.