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Increased risk of co-existing autoimmune disease in myasthenia gravis patients

Date:
October 30, 2014
Source:
American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM)
Summary:
Myasthenia gravis is a disorder than can be associated with abnormal function outside of skeletal muscle. Two new studies demonstrate that there is a significant proportion of myasthenia patients with arrhythmias and co-morbid inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
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Myasthenia gravis is a disorder than can be associated with abnormal function outside of skeletal muscle. Two studies presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) demonstrate that there is a significant proportion of myasthenia patients with arrhythmias and co-morbid inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

In a study presented by Rachana Gandhi, MD, 16 out of 100 patients with myasthenia gravis also had arrhythmias. Eleven had atrial flutter/fibrillation and five had sick sinus syndrome. Interestingly, those that underwent a thymectomy were less likely to have arrhythmias.

A study from the Universidade Federal do Ceara in Brazil evaluated the presence of autoimmune IBD in patients with myasthenia gravis. While the likelihood of two autoimmune diseases existing in a single patient was estimate at 0.2%, in the population with myasthenia gravis, 0.9% also had IBD.

The two studies suggest that the pathology of myasthenia gravis is more far reaching than just the acetylcholine receptors (AChR) of the skeletal muscle neuromuscular junction.


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Materials provided by American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM). Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM). "Increased risk of co-existing autoimmune disease in myasthenia gravis patients." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 October 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141030100527.htm>.
American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM). (2014, October 30). Increased risk of co-existing autoimmune disease in myasthenia gravis patients. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 27, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141030100527.htm
American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM). "Increased risk of co-existing autoimmune disease in myasthenia gravis patients." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141030100527.htm (accessed March 27, 2024).

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