Epidemiological evidence for a hereditary contribution to myasthenia gravis: a retrospective cohort study of patients from North America.
BMJ Open
; 10(9): e037909, 2020 09 18.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32948566
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To approximate the rate of familial myasthenia gravis and the coexistence of other autoimmune disorders in the patients and their families.DESIGN:
Retrospective cohort study.SETTING:
Clinics across North America.PARTICIPANTS:
The study included 1032 patients diagnosed with acetylcholine receptor antibody (AChR)-positive myasthenia gravis.METHODS:
Phenotype information of 1032 patients diagnosed with AChR-positive myasthenia gravis was obtained from clinics at 14 centres across North America between January 2010 and January 2011. A critical review of the epidemiological literature on the familial rate of myasthenia gravis was also performed.RESULTS:
Among 1032 patients, 58 (5.6%) reported a family history of myasthenia gravis. A history of autoimmune diseases was present in 26.6% of patients and in 28.4% of their family members.DISCUSSION:
The familial rate of myasthenia gravis was higher than would be expected for a sporadic disease. Furthermore, a high proportion of patients had a personal or family history of autoimmune disease. Taken together, these findings suggest a genetic contribution to the pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Myasthenia Gravis
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Estados Unidos