A series of patients with refractory myasthenia gravis.
Neurologia (Engl Ed)
; 38(4): 256-261, 2023 May.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37031801
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Advances in the treatment of myasthenia gravis (MG) have improved quality of life and prognosis for the majority of patients. However, 10%-20% of patients present refractory MG, with frequent relapses and significant functional limitations. PATIENTS ANDMETHODS:
Patients with refractory MG were selected from a cohort of patients diagnosed with MG between January 2008 and June 2019. Refractory MG was defined as lack of response to treatment with prednisone and at least 2 immunosuppressants, inability to withdraw treatment without relapse in the last 12 months, or intolerance to treatment with severe adverse reactions.RESULTS:
We identified 84 patients with MG, 11 of whom (13%) met criteria for refractory MG. Mean (standard deviation) age was 47 (18) years; 64% of patients with refractory MG had early-onset generalised myasthenia (as compared to 22% in the group of patients with MG; P < .01), with a higher proportion of women in this group (P < .01). Disease severity at diagnosis and at the time of data analysis was higher among patients with refractory MG, who presented more relapses during follow-up. Logistic regression analysis revealed an independent association between refractory MG and the number of severe relapses.CONCLUSIONS:
The percentage of patients with refractory MG in our series (13%) is similar to those reported in previous studies; these patients were often women and presented early onset, severe forms of onset, and repeated relapses requiring hospital admission during follow-up.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Quality of Life
/
Myasthenia Gravis
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Aspects:
Patient_preference
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Neurologia (Engl Ed)
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article