Author/Editor		Shakir, RA; Al-din, ASN; Alnaqeeb, NA; Abouna, GM; Trontelj, JV; Khan, RA
Title		Myasthenia gravis in Arabs: prevalence, clinical expression, acetylcholine receptor antibodies and thymectomy, 1980-89
Type		članek
Source		J Tropical Geograph Neurology
Vol. and No.		Letnik 1, št. 2
Publication year		1991
Volume		str. 49-53
Language		eng
Abstract		Over a period of ten years, 93 cases of myasthenia gravis were identified in the Neurological Service of the faculty of Medicine of the University of Kuwait. The prevalence on 31 December 1989 was 4.6/100,000 in Arabs within the group. The ratio of women to men was 2.1:1. The disease first manifested itself most often in the second and third decades, the mean age at onset being 27 years (range 10-64 years). Eleven patients had thymomas (11.8 percent), seven had congenital myasthenia (7.5 percent) and four had pure ocular myasthenia (4.3 percent). Acetylcholine-receptor antibody titres were positive in 46 (71.9 percent) of 64 patients with generalized myasthenia. Mediastinal computed tomography was positive in all thymoma cases, but it demonstrated thymic enlargement in only 23 (34.8 percent) of 66 nonthymoma patients. Thyroid disease was noted in nine cases (10.3 percent), rheumatoid arthritis in four (4.5 percent), systemic lupus erythematosus in two (2.2 percent), and multiple sclerosis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and autoimmune haemolytic anaemia in one case each. Myasthenia in the mixed population of Kuwait has the same prevalence as in Western Europe. The clinical expression and response to therapy compare well with reported series from other countries. This ten-year study supports the idea that the prevalence of myasthenia gravis is approximately the same worldwide.
Descriptors		MYASTHENIA GRAVIS THYMOMA KUWAIT RECEPTORS, CHOLINERGIC AUTOANTIBODIES FOLLOW-UP STUDIES THYMECTOMY