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Transcervical thymectomy with the aid of mediastinoscopy for myasthenia gravis: eight years' experience
Fifty-eight patients with myasthenia gravis, including 12 children, underwent thymectomy. Eleven of them (19%) had total stable remission and 42 (72%) showed clinical improvement and were able to reduce their anticholinesterase medication. These two groups combined comprised 53 patients (91%). There was no operative or postoperative mortality. Histopathological examination of the resected thymuses revealed a tumor (benign thymoma) in 4 patients (7%), thymitis in 36(62%), and no pathological changes in 18(31%). Patients with few or no germinal centers tended to achieve remission more rapidly than those with numerous germinal centers.
Fifty-eight patients with myasthenia gravis, including 12 children, underwent thymectomy. Eleven of them (19%) had total stable remission and 42 (72%) showed clinical improvement and were able to reduce their anticholinesterase medication. These two groups combined comprised 53 patients (91%). There was no operative or postoperative mortality. Histopathological examination of the resected thymuses revealed a tumor (benign thymoma) in 4 patients (7%), thymitis in 36(62%), and no pathological changes in 18(31%). Patients with few or no germinal centers tended to achieve remission more rapidly than those with numerous germinal centers.