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Pamela S. Chavis, MD; David E. Stickler, MD; Aljoeson Walker, MD

Arch Neurol. 2007;64(12):1792-1794.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Is there any other autoimmune disease treated by surgical removal of a gland? Does the evidence of autoimmunity in myasthenia gravis (MG) support medical treatment of significant ocular involvement? The basis for answering these questions must rest on an understanding of disease progression, the success of treatment, and the risk-benefit ratio for the patient. Although there is a high frequency of autoimmune disease in MG, there are no studies of any other autoimmune disease being treated by surgical removal of a gland or thymectomy. The surgical treatment of MG by thymectomy dates to the series of 20 patients with and without thymoma reported by Blalock¹ in 1944; this treatment was innovative and was effective then and still is now, even in the immunomodulatory era. There is little doubt that the thymus is responsible for T-cell development and maintains the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

PROGRESSION OF OCULAR MG TO GMG


MEDICAL TREATMENT OF OMG

PREVENTING SEVERE OCULAR DISEASE OR PROGRESSION TO SYSTEMIC MG

EFFECTIVENESS OF MEDICAL TREATMENT

THYMECTOMY FOR OMG

ADVERSE EFFECTS OF THYMECTOMY AND COMPARISON WITH OTHER REGIMENS

CONCLUSIONS

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Author Affiliations: Departments of Ophthalmology (Drs Chavis and Walker) and Neurosciences (Drs Chavis, Stickler, and Walker) and Storm Eye Institute (Drs Chavis and Walker), Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.

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