title: Early-onset myasthenia gravis: clinical characteristics and response to therapy.
abstract: We studied 59 children with myasthenia gravis (MG). Disease onset was pre-pubertal in 26 patients and post-pubertal in 33. The male to female ratio was 0.62 in the early- and 0.17 in the late-onset groups. The frequency of ocular MG was higher in patients with prepubertal onset. Patients with generalized MG generally showed a good response to thymectomy and corticosteroid therapy proved effective with no major side-effects. In our experience early-onset MG has the same course as in adult life. We recommend thymectomy for generalized disease in childhood, except in very young children on account of possible long-term effects on immunological development. Immunosuppressive therapy should be considered in severely affected patients who do not respond adequately to other therapies.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Batocchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Evoli
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Palmisani
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lo Monaco
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bartoccioni
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tonali
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D010951:Plasma Exchange; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013934:Thymectomy
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D011241:Prednisone