Myasthenia gravis
RSS feedStamina updates and refines the epidemiology of myasthenia gravis in France
Using the French National Health Data System (SNDS), the Stamina study analysed information on patients hospitalised for myasthenia gravis or on long-term care for this condition between 2008 and 2020. The results of the study show: a prevalence of the disease in France of 34.2 per 100,000 inhabitants (i.e. 22,979 patients) and an incidence of … [Read more]
The largest cohort of disorders associated with fetal anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies
A large international collaboration has reported 46 cases associated with maternal anti-fetal acetylcholine receptor antibodies (fRACh), the largest cohort ever described to date. The 30 mothers had anti-fRACh and anti-RACh antibodies, and half of them had not been diagnosed with myasthenia prior to pregnancy. There were seven terminations of pregnancy for severe congenital multiple arthrogryposis, … [Read more]
When a smartphone app reliably assesses peak cough flow
A study carried out in Spain on 50 patients suffering from Charcot’s disease (n=26), autoimmune myasthenia (n=9) or genetic myopathy (n=15) shows that sound analysis of coughing, via a smartphone application developed by the Hiroshima Institute of Engineering (Japan) : reliably assesses the peak cough flow (PCF) measured with a flowmeter associated with an oronasal … [Read more]
Efgartigimod active on different muscle groups in myasthenia gravis
A post-hoc analysis of the results of the Adapt trial, which was conducted in France in 167 adults with a generalised form of autoimmune myasthenia gravis, showed that efgartigimod resulted in : an improvement, greater than on placebo, in each of the muscle sub-domains (respiratory, ocular, bulbar, limb) assessed by the MG-ADL score, observed from … [Read more]
Three studies establish links between intestinal microbiota and myasthenia gravis
The role of intestinal flora is the subject of sustained attention in medical research, particularly in dysimmune diseases such as myasthenia gravis. Various publications point to the existence of dysbiosis in this disease: The results of the German Mybiom study show, in cases of myasthenia (n=42), a lower diversity of intestinal flora than in a … [Read more]
When smartphones and AI combine to assess myasthenia gravis in real life
UCB and Sharecare conducted a three-month prospective real-life study in the United States involving 82 patients with moderate to severe autoimmune myasthenia gravis. The participants sent selfie videos to the investigators, which were analysed automatically by a margin reflex distance (MDR1) measurement tool developed using an artificial neural network: these measurements proved to be effective, … [Read more]
Significant drug iatrogenicity in late myasthenia gravis
A retrospective study of the medical data of 493 people suffering from autoimmune myasthenia followed by the university hospital centres of Strasbourg, Lyon, Grenoble and Angers reveals that the disease began after the age of 70 for 28% of them. Among these older patients : 76% improved with treatment during follow-up, despite lower doses, 41% … [Read more]
Infantile myasthenia remains ocular and usually evolves favourably
A retrospective study of 859 patients followed by a Shanghai hospital for Myasthenia gravis diagnosed before the age of 14 found : an ocular form in 97.8% of cases, which only generalized in 14% of patients; 21.7% were in stable complete remission, 15.3% in pharmaceutical remission, and 42% of patients had achieved minimal manifestation status … [Read more]
Characteristics of and response to treatment for double seronegative myasthenia gravis
A retrospective Canadian study of 80 people with double-seronegative myasthenia for anti-RACh and anti-MuSK antibodies, compared with 73 people with myasthenia for anti-RACh antibodies, showed that : the initial proportion of people with ocular forms (46.3%) was significantly higher in the double-seronegative group than in the anti-RACh myasthenia group; the Myasthenia Gravis Impairment Index (MGII) … [Read more]
Promising initial results for CAR-T RNA cells in myasthenia gravis
The MG-001 trial is evaluating Descartes-08 CAR-T cells from Cartesian Therapeutics in the United States. These are autologous T lymphocytes genetically modified, not by DNA but by RNA, to target the B lymphocyte maturation antigen (BCMA) expressed on the surface of plasma cells. The first two parts of the trial, in 14 adults with a … [Read more]
