@article{ATM22793,
author = {Ryo Otsuka and Kazuhiro Ueda and Toshiki Tanaka and Junichi Murakami and Masataro Hayashi and Kimikazu Hamano},
title = {Who will benefit from thymectomy for myasthenia gravis? Is there any role for this procedure in elderly patients?},
journal = {Annals of Translational Medicine},
volume = {7},
number = {1},
year = {2018},
keywords = {},
abstract = {Background: The proportion of elderly patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) is increasing over time. Thoracoscopic extended thymectomy has been shown to achieve a superior short-term outcome to transsternal procedures. Therefore, the long-term clinical outcome should be re-examined, particularly in elderly patients.
Methods: We evaluated the long-term clinical outcomes after extended thymectomy in 30 MG patients with or without thymoma. Twenty-one (70%) patients underwent surgery by 65 years of age, and the remaining 9 (30%) underwent surgery after 65 years of age. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the influence of various factors on the improvement in MG symptoms.
Results: The characteristics in the elderly patients were comparable to those in the younger patients, except for the age at surgery. Symptoms of MG improved in 4 of the 9 (44%) elderly patients and in 18 of the 21 (86%) younger patients (P=0.0192). One elderly patient who underwent transsternal thymectomy died suddenly on postoperative day 3, probably due to a MG crisis: no pathological abnormalities were detected by an autopsy. A multivariate analysis identified an age at thymectomy of },
issn = {2305-5847}, url = {https://atm.amegroups.org/article/view/22793}
}