Effect of pregnancy and birth on the course of myasthenia gravis before or after transsternal radical thymectomy

Roth, Thierry Christophe; Raths, Janine; Carboni, Gianluca; Rösler, Kai; Schmid, Ralph Alexander (2006). Effect of pregnancy and birth on the course of myasthenia gravis before or after transsternal radical thymectomy. European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery, 29(2), pp. 231-5. Oxford: Elsevier Science B.V. 10.1016/j.ejcts.2005.11.022

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OBJECTIVE: Myasthenia gravis (MG) affects women at childbearing age. Therefore, the question arises if these patients should become pregnant and if thymectomy has a positive effect on the course of MG in pregnant patients. METHODS: Fifteen pregnancies had been followed retrospectively. All patients underwent transsternal radical thymectomy for MG. The course of MG in the period before, during, and after the pregnancy was scored according to Ossermann's classification. The effect of thymectomy on delivery and on the newborns was evaluated. RESULTS: Patients were divided in two groups: pregnancies before (group I, n=8) and after (group II, n=7) thymectomy. During pregnancy, in group I, one deterioration was observed and in seven patients the disease was unchanged. In group II, one deterioration, five unchanged courses, and one improvement were observed. In the postpartum period, in group I, seven patients did not change and one improved. In group II, two deteriorations, three unchanged courses, and two improvements were observed. Before pregnancy, group II patients were in a better Ossermann stage in comparison with those in group I. Eight of the 12 deliveries were spontaneous (three abortus). Myasthenic symptoms were observed in two newborns in group I. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that MG is not prohibitive to have children. The course of MG after transsternal radical thymectomy is often ameliorated. A better MG-stage, reached after thymectomy, before pregnancy seems to be correlated with a better course during pregnancy.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gastro-intestinal, Liver and Lung Disorders (DMLL) > Clinic of Thoracic Surgery
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Head Organs and Neurology (DKNS) > Clinic of Neurology

UniBE Contributor:

Carboni, Giovanni Luca, Rösler, Kai Michael, Schmid, Ralph

ISSN:

1010-7940

ISBN:

16386922

Publisher:

Elsevier Science B.V.

Language:

English

Submitter:

Factscience Import

Date Deposited:

04 Oct 2013 14:46

Last Modified:

14 Dec 2022 14:03

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.ejcts.2005.11.022

PubMed ID:

16386922

Web of Science ID:

000235431100018

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.19103

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/19103 (FactScience: 1474)

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