Skip to main content
Advertisement
  • Neurology.org
  • Journals
    • Neurology
    • Clinical Practice
    • Education
    • Genetics
    • Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation
  • Online Sections
    • Neurology Video Journal Club
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)
    • Neurology: Clinical Practice Accelerator
    • Practice Buzz
    • Practice Current
    • Residents & Fellows
    • Without Borders
  • Collections
    • COVID-19
    • Disputes & Debates
    • Health Disparities
    • Infographics
    • Neurology Future Forecasting Series
    • Null Hypothesis
    • Patient Pages
    • Topics A-Z
    • Translations
  • Podcast
  • CME
  • About
    • About the Journals
    • Contact Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Authors
    • Submit New Manuscript
    • Submit Revised Manuscript
    • Author Center

Advanced Search

Main menu

  • Neurology.org
  • Journals
    • Neurology
    • Clinical Practice
    • Education
    • Genetics
    • Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation
  • Online Sections
    • Neurology Video Journal Club
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)
    • Neurology: Clinical Practice Accelerator
    • Practice Buzz
    • Practice Current
    • Residents & Fellows
    • Without Borders
  • Collections
    • COVID-19
    • Disputes & Debates
    • Health Disparities
    • Infographics
    • Neurology Future Forecasting Series
    • Null Hypothesis
    • Patient Pages
    • Topics A-Z
    • Translations
  • Podcast
  • CME
  • About
    • About the Journals
    • Contact Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Authors
    • Submit New Manuscript
    • Submit Revised Manuscript
    • Author Center
  • Home
  • Latest Articles
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Neurology Video Journal Club
  • Residents & Fellows

User menu

  • Subscribe
  • My Alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Neurology
Home
The most widely read and highly cited peer-reviewed neurology journal
  • Subscribe
  • My Alerts
  • Log in
Site Logo
  • Home
  • Latest Articles
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Neurology Video Journal Club
  • Residents & Fellows

Share

April 01, 1997; 48 (Suppl 5) Articles

Treatment of acquired myasthenia gravis

Janice M. Massey
First published April 1, 1997, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.48.Suppl_5.46S
Janice M. Massey
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Full PDF
Citation
Treatment of acquired myasthenia gravis
Janice M. Massey
Neurology Apr 1997, 48 (Suppl 5) 46S-51S; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.48.Suppl_5.46S

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Permissions

Make Comment

See Comments

Downloads
35

Share

  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Disclosures
Loading

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Although the number of therapeutic options available has increased greatly over the past three decades, experts in the field continue to debate over the therapeutic approach that awards the greatest success for patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). There is no standard measure of disease severity, and no therapy has been demonstrated efficacious by rigorous, prospective controlled studies. Because 22% of untreated patients achieve remission and another 18% experience marked improvement, it is difficult to sort out therapeutic improvement from the natural history of the disease. [1] However, with current modes of therapy the 25% mortality of untreated patients [1] has clearly decreased, suggesting that untreated patients are at risk for exacerbation. The art of providing safe care for patients with MG lies in deciding when to treat and when not to treat aggressively.

No single regimen is appropriate for all patients. The goal of therapy is to produce normal function, with rapid onset of the effect. The ideal therapy should have minimal side effects, be easy to administer, and be available at low cost. A number of factors influence the decision process. The rate of progression, along with the severity and distribution of the weakness, is the most important consideration for immediate therapeutic decisions. Long-term therapy is also influenced by age, gender, the presence of concomitant disease, and the response to previous therapy. Concern for the potential presence of a thymoma is greater in some patients and will alter the plan for therapy.

Clinical considerations also include the general health of the patient, the presence of other diseases such as diabetes mellitus or thyroid disease, and the resources or ability to comply with a therapeutic strategy. At any point in the course, there are influences that may unmask the degree of weakness (Table 1 and Table 2).

View this table:
  • In this window
  • In a new window

Table 1. …

View Full Text

AAN Members

We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.

Google Safari Microsoft Edge Firefox

Click here to login

AAN Non-Member Subscribers

Click here to login

Purchase access

For assistance, please contact:
AAN Members (800) 879-1960 or (612) 928-6000 (International)
Non-AAN Member subscribers (800) 638-3030 or (301) 223-2300 option 3, select 1 (international)

Sign Up
Information on how to subscribe to Neurology and Neurology: Clinical Practice can be found here 

Purchase
Individual access to articles is available through the Add to Cart option on the article page.  Access for 1 day (from the computer you are currently using) is US$ 39.00.  Pay-per-view content is for the use of the payee only, and content may not be further distributed by print or electronic means.  The payee may view, download, and/or print the article for his/her personal, scholarly, research, and educational use.  Distributing copies (electronic or otherwise) of the article is not allowed.

Letters: Rapid online correspondence

No comments have been published for this article.
Comment

REQUIREMENTS

You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.

Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.

If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.

Submission specifications:

  • Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
  • Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
  • Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
  • Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
  • Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.

More guidelines and information on Disputes & Debates

Compose Comment

More information about text formats

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Author Information
NOTE: The first author must also be the corresponding author of the comment.
First or given name, e.g. 'Peter'.
Your last, or family, name, e.g. 'MacMoody'.
Your email address, e.g. higgs-boson@gmail.com
Your role and/or occupation, e.g. 'Orthopedic Surgeon'.
Your organization or institution (if applicable), e.g. 'Royal Free Hospital'.
Publishing Agreement
NOTE: All authors, besides the first/corresponding author, must complete a separate Publishing Agreement Form and provide via email to the editorial office before comments can be posted.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Vertical Tabs

You May Also be Interested in

Back to top
  • Article
    • Cholinesterase inhibitors.
    • Thymectomy.
    • Immunosuppressant drugs.
    • Corticosteroids.
    • Azathioprine.
    • Cyclosporine.
    • Cyclophosphamide.
    • Plasmapheresis.
    • Intravenous immunoglobulin.
    • Miscellaneous treatments.
    • Pregnancy.
    • Summary.
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Disclosures
Advertisement

Brain Metabolism Related to Mild Cognitive Impairment and Phenoconversion in Patients With Isolated REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

Dr. David E. Vaillancourt and Dr. Shannon Y. Chiu

► Watch

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.

Alert Me

  • Alert me when eletters are published

Recommended articles

  • Five New Things
    Myasthenia gravis
    Five new things
    Jeffrey M. Statland, Emma Ciafaloni et al.
    Neurology: Clinical Practice, April 15, 2013
  • Views & Reviews
    International Consensus Guidance for Management of Myasthenia Gravis
    2020 Update
    Pushpa Narayanaswami, Donald B. Sanders, Gil Wolfe et al.
    Neurology, November 03, 2020
  • Views & Reviews
    Treatment of autoimmune myasthenia gravis
    David P. Richman, Mark A. Agius et al.
    Neurology, December 22, 2003
  • Views & Reviews
    International consensus guidance for management of myasthenia gravis
    Executive summary
    Donald B. Sanders, Gil I. Wolfe, Michael Benatar et al.
    Neurology, June 29, 2016
Neurology: 100 (21)

Articles

  • Ahead of Print
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Popular Articles
  • Translations

About

  • About the Journals
  • Ethics Policies
  • Editors & Editorial Board
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise

Submit

  • Author Center
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Information for Reviewers
  • AAN Guidelines
  • Permissions

Subscribers

  • Subscribe
  • Activate a Subscription
  • Sign up for eAlerts
  • RSS Feed
Site Logo
  • Visit neurology Template on Facebook
  • Follow neurology Template on Twitter
  • Visit Neurology on YouTube
  • Neurology
  • Neurology: Clinical Practice
  • Neurology: Education
  • Neurology: Genetics
  • Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation
  • AAN.com
  • AANnews
  • Continuum
  • Brain & Life
  • Neurology Today

Wolters Kluwer Logo

Neurology | Print ISSN:0028-3878
Online ISSN:1526-632X

© 2023 American Academy of Neurology

  • Privacy Policy
  • Feedback
  • Advertise