Thymectomy for the Myasthemia Gravis Patient.
- Author:
Sung Woon CHUNG
1
;
Jun Ho PARK
;
Jong Won KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Korea. sungwoon@pusan.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Myasthenia gravis;
Thymectomy
- MeSH:
Humans;
Medical Records;
Myasthenia Gravis;
Pathology;
Prognosis;
Pyridostigmine Bromide;
Thymectomy*;
Thymoma;
Thymus Hyperplasia
- From:The Korean Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
2003;36(10):754-758
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Thymectomy was known as an effective treatment modality of myasthenia gravis. In this paper, we analyzed the result of thymectomy and the factors affecting the postoperative symptom improvement. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We analyzed the medical records of 50 patients who received the thymectomy for myasthenia gravis from January 1997 to December 2001. RESULT: 39 patients showed symptom improvement. The effect ofthymectomy as a treatment is 78%. There was no statistically significant correlation between postoperative improvement and Sex, Age, the Weight of thymic tissue, preoperative symptom duration, and preoperative mestinon dosage. However, the thymic pathology and low grade preoperative symptoms were affecting the postoperative prognosis. CONCLUSION: Thymic hyperplasia showed good prognosis compared to thymoma. Low grade preoperative symptoms (Group I or IIA) also showed good prognosis. So, early thymectomy is recommendable for the good treatment results of myasthenia gravis.
