Ocular myasthenia--factors predictive for generalisation

A retrospective analysis was done from case records of 186 patients with myasthenia. Ninety patients had purely ocular symptoms at the onset. Thirty six of these patients continued to have ocular myasthenia while 54 patients developed features of generalised disease. There were no significant difference between the two groups as regards age at onset, sex distribution, response to repetitive stimulation, radiologic evidence of thymic enlargementor associated thyroid disease. The median time for generalisation was 3 months. A later age of onset seemed to prognosticate for early generalisation.