title: Laryngeal Mask Airway insertion with total intravenous anesthesia for transsternal thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis: report of 5 cases.
abstract: Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by a reduction of postsynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction. Most myasthenia gravis patients require thymectomy. Intravenous (IV) anesthetics may be superior to inhalation agents in these patients. The Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA), when compared with the endotracheal tube, causes less airway resistance, which in turn may lead to a decreased bronchoconstrictive reflex, less atelectasis, and fewer pulmonary infections. We report 5 patients with myasthenia gravis, who underwent transsternal thymectomy with total IV anesthesia and LMA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Baskent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. mesutsenertr@yahoo.co.uk <mesutsenertr@yahoo.co.uk>
authors.forename: Mesut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sener
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bilen
authors.forename: Nesrin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bozdogan
authors.forename: Dalokay
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kilic
authors.forename: Gulnaz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arslan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000403:Airway Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D000771:Anesthesia, Intravenous; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017214:Laryngeal Masks; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000601:surgery*; D019990:Perioperative Care; D010880:Piperidines; D015742:Propofol; D000077208:Remifentanil; D013249:Sternum / Q000601:surgery*; D013934:Thymectomy
chemical_list: D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D010880:Piperidines; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D000077208:Remifentanil; D015742:Propofol