Clinical study of immunological and electrophysiological profile of patients with myasthenia gravis at a super-speciality hospital

 

 

Abstract              Background: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder in which antibodies bind to acetylcholine receptors or related molecules in the postsynaptic membrane at the neuromuscular junction. The diagnosis of myasthenia gravis is confirmed by the combination of history and physical signs and a positive test for specific autoantibodies with supportive evidence of electrophysiological studies. Present study was aimed to study immunological and electrophysiological profile of patients with myasthenia gravis at a superspeciality hospital. Material and Methods: The present study was single-center, prospective observational study, conducted in patients >18 years of age, either gender with Diagnosis of myasthenia gravis. Results: A total of 77 Myasthenia patients from 26-86 years of age were observed during the study. Mean age of study population was 54.8 years. 48 (62.3%) are males and females contribute 29 (37.7%) patients. Ocular onset presentation was noted in 68 (88.3%) patients. Most common clinical feature was Ptosis (96.1%), dysphagia (49.3%) and diplopia (44.1%). AChR positive was observed in 70(90.9%), MuSK positive was observed in 2 (2.6%) patients. Myasthenic Crisis was observed in 15(19.5%) patients, most common cause of crisis was Infection in 6(40%). 2 (13.3%) patients of myasthenia crisis were managed with non-invasive mode of ventilation and rest of patients required invasive mode of ventilation. Among the patients with myasthenic crisis 14(93.7%) of them recovered and One mortality was noted. Conclusion: Most common mode of onset of presentation was ocular, most common clinical feature was ptosis in our study. AChR antibodies were positive in nearly 91% of the patients in our study. RNS was positive in 84% of the patients.

Keywords: myasthenia gravis, ptosis, AChR antibodies, thymoma