RESPONSE TO THYMECTOMY IN SOUTH INDIAN PATIENTS WITH MYASTHENIA-GRAVIS

Aims - The rate of remission among patients with myasthenia gravis (MG ) following thymectomy and the predictors of the outcome have revealed vast variation in studies from different geographic regions raising s uspicion about the influence of ethnic factors. Material & methods - W e retrospectively evaluated the outcome of 71 South Indian MG patients who were thymectomized between 1987 through 1993 and analyzed the rel ationship between clinical and histopathological features and postthym ectomy outcome. Results - The clinical severity of the disease did not differ between the 29 patients with and 42 patients without a thymoma . Seventynine percent of our patients responded favourably to thymecto my; without additional immunosupression therapy, 52% achieved a near-c omplete remission. An younger age and milder disease correlated with a good outcome. Patients with thymoma responded as favourably as those without a thymoma. Conclusions - The postthymectomy response of South Indian MG patients in general did not differ from that of Western and Oriental patients.