Electrocardiographic findings in 24 patients with myasthenia gravis.
Twenty four myasthenia gravis patients, 14 females and 10 males, aged between 5 and 65 years (average 29) were studied electrocardiographically. The abnormalities found in the ECG were: prolonged "Q-T" intervals (10 cases, 44.1%), sinus tachycardias (5 cases, 20.8%), sinus arrhythmias (5 cases, 20.8%), right bundle branch block (4 cases, 16.6%), and non-specific "T" wave changes (2 cases, 8.3%). Among our 24 patients with myasthenia gravis, in contrast to previous reports, only two had non-specific "T" wave abnormalities. But prolonged "Q-T" intervals, right bundle branch block, sinus tachycardias and sinus arrhythmias, when compared to normal population incidence, were found to be quite significant. In pathogenesis, primary myocardial histo-pathological abnormalities, and the role of extracardiac factors in producing the changes were discussed.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006327:Heart Block / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*