Efficacy of thymectomy in myasthenia gravis

We sought to determine the efficacy of thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). The roles of age, gender, age of onset of MG, acetylcholine receptor antibodies (AchR's) titers, and pathology of the thymus gland were evaluated. Twenty-one patients were analyzed retrospectively. Twenty patients belonged to Osserman Class IIA or higher; 71.42% belonged to IIB. All patients were on either anticholinesterase and/or immunosuppressive agents. The mean follow up was three years. Seventy-six percent of the patients showed improvement by Osserman and by "results of treatment" classification, 14.28% were in complete remission, on no medications. The age, gender, age of onset, thymic pathology and AchR titers had no correlation with post-operative improvement. With longer follow up the beneficial effect is more apparent.