Although there have been reported cases of myasthenia gravis in Korea, general trends and characteristics of this disease in the country has not been elucidated.
Fifty-eight cases of myasthenia gravis, consisting of 27 in-patients and 31 out-patients seen at the Yonsei University Severance Hospital from Aug. 1970 to July 1976; have been clinically analyzed and the following results have been obtained.
1. The mean age of . onset is 25.9 (range 1^x60), and the maximal incidence occurs between 15 and 29 in women and between 30 and 40, and below -15
in men. And the incidence of pediatric age is relatively high (17 cases, 29. 3%).
2. It is slightly commoner in women, with a ratio of 1.2 : 1, but between 15 and 29, women are 3 times more than men.
3. By the modified Osserrman´s classification more than two thirds are mild´ type and only 2 cases are grave type, and pediatric patients are almost group I (ocular type).
4. Duration is ranged from 7 days to 29 yrs and in more than two thirds cases, within I year.
5. Complications are followed: pneumonia 2 cases, crisis 2 cases, and death 2 cases (one case is due to respiratory arrest and? another due to bleeding). Associated diseases are 2 cases in hyperthyroidism, 2 cases in hypothyroidism, 2 cases in thymoma (one case is not confirmed), and 1 case in aplasticc anemia.
6. Thirty-four cases (84%) are improved by treatment(41 cases medically and one case surgically) and 7 cases are responded poorly. The response to cholinergic drug in patients with myasthenia confined to the ocular muscles, particularly in pediatric age, is sometimes poor.
presented with the brief review of literatures. - The patient was a 46-year-old male, who-bad episodes of paroxysmal tachyarrhythmia Electrocardiograms showed short PR interval, normal QRS complex and supraventricular tachycardia.
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