Combined operation for myasthenia gravis and coronary artery disease

A 57-year-old man with ocular myasthenia gravis was admitted to our hospital because of acute respiratory insufficiency associated with myasthenic crisis. He had a history of unstable angina indicated percutaneous coronary artery angioplasty. He was diagnosed with generalized nonthymomatous myasthenia gravis and a triple vessel coronary artery disease. We conducted a simultaneous surgical intervention, including extended thymectomy and coronary artery bypass grafting, using a standard cardiopulmonary bypass via median sternotomy. The patient had already been immunocompromised at surgery for having diabetes, and postoperative long-term steroid therapy. In this rare and special condition, a meticulous overall therapeutic strategy was needed in order to avoid myasthenic crisis and prepare for the worst case scenario of mediastinitis.