title: Elderly-onset familial myasthenia gravis in two siblings.
abstract: Myasthenia gravis (MG) occasionally occurs in a family, but elderly-onset (≥65 years) familial MG has been rarely reported. We here report the case of two siblings with elderly-onset MG (mean onset age: 72.5 years) and present the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) profiles (HLA-A, -B, -DR) of their family. Both patients developed generalized MG with elevated serum acetylcholine receptor antibody titers at their seventies. Of six siblings, the two patients and one unaffected sibling shared the same HLA haplotypes. Our study indicates that elderly-onset MG can occur in a family and that familial occurrence of MG may be related to certain HLA alleles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Nagoya Daiichi Red Cross Hospital, Aichi, Japan. Electronic address: t-hirunagi@nagoya-1st.jrc.or.jp.
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirunagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Koyo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsujikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Nagoya Daiichi Red Cross Hospital, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mano
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katsuno
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000276:immunology*; D035781:Siblings
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic
keywords: Elderly-onset; Familial clustering; Familial myasthenia gravis; Human leukocyte antigen