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Treatment of myasthenia gravis with steroids and thymectomy: Report of 26 patients

Abstract:

Treatment of myasthenia gravis is still controversial, and no well documented study definitively support any of the known therapeutic approaches. We report our experience with 26 patients with generalized myasthenia gravis who were treated with both corticosteroids and thymectomy. Response to treatment was evaluated by assessing the functional capacity of the patient before and after surgery, with a mean follow-up of 3,2 years. Ten patients had complete remission of the disease, 11 showed good response to treatment, 3 had a mild response, and 2 patients did not respond at all. In general terms, it was considered that 21 patients (80,76%) showed adequate response to treatment, and 5 patients (19,24%) did not. Besides cosmetic effects, we could not document adverse effects related to corticosteroid therapy, and no patient experienced complications related to corticosteroid therapy, and no patient experienced complications related to the surgical procedure. We conclude that steroids plus thymectomy represent a safe and effective therapeutic approach for patients with generalizaed myasthenia gravis.