Post-thymectomy myasthenia gravis in four patients.

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Between 1974 and 1989, we treated four patients (3 females and 1 male) who developed post-thymectomy myasthenia gravis (MG) with thymomas. They had had no symptoms of MG before surgery. Thymomas were diagnosed by routine chest X rays and CT scans. Thymothymectomy was performed in all patients. The time from surgery to the appearance of MG was 3 to 43 months. Histological examination revealed two patients mixed cell type and two polygonal cell type thymomas. Three patients are now symptom free with no signs of MG. One died of hemoptysis due to lung abscess 9 years after surgery.<BR>The mechanism of development of post-thymectomy MG is still unclear. In our patients, T-cells in the peripheral lymph nodes and the spleen might have been activated by thymectomy and produced anti-Ach R antibody, which led to the appearance of post-thymectomy MG.
特定非営利活動法人日本呼吸器外科学会の論文