Determinants of Suboptimal Outcome Following Thymectomy in Myasthenia Gravis

Background: Response to thymectomy in myasthenia gravis (MG) is influenced by various patient-, disease-, and therapy-related factors. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 128 patients with MG who underwent maximal thymectomy over 15 years was done to identify the determinants of suboptimal clinical outcome. Results: Among the 128 patients, 62 (48.4%) were females with a mean age of 38.97 (12.29) years. Thymomatous MG occurred in 66 (51.6%). Overall improvement from preoperative status was noted in 88 (68.8%) patients after mean follow-up of 51.68 (33.21) months. The presence of thymoma was the major predictor of suboptimal clinical outcome ( P = 0.001), whereas age, gender, preoperative disease severity, and seropositive status did not attain significance. Patients with better outcome had received higher steroid dose preoperatively ( P = 0.035). Conclusions: Suboptimal response after thymectomy occurred in one-third of MG patients, more commonly with thymomatous MG. Relationship of preoperative steroid therapy to remission merits evaluation.