ABSTRACT
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder affecting the structural integrity and the function of the neuromuscular junction of skeletal muscle. In the literature, the boundaries between an autoimmune model of MG that has been produced in rodents and other animals, and human MG, are sometimes blurred. Virtually ignored at the time were several voices that fit easily within the accepted literature. A. Blalock reported thymectomy in MG in 1939 and 1944. Unlike most other autoimmune diseasers where the principle therapies are steroids and other immunosuppressive agents, thymectomy plays a major and increasingly early role in MG. The use of corticosteroid drugs, particularly prednisone, is very effective in treating the symptoms and signs of myasthenia gravis. Azathioprine treatment has been used more frequently in treatment of MG. Cyclophosphamide may act faster and improve patients with MG, but the side effects limit treatment to only the most refractory cases.
