Abstract
Morphologic findings of thymuses from 32 anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-negative myasthenia gravis patients, 12 with and 20 without antibodies against the muscle-specific kinase (MuSK), were compared with those from 30 AChR-positive subjects. In contrast with the high frequency of thymic hyperplastic changes in AChR-positive patients, in MuSK-positive subjects histologic alterations were minimal, arguing against an intrathymic disease pathogenesis. Since hyperplastic changes were seen in 35% of MuSK-negative patients, the thymus could be involved in some of these cases.
MeSH terms
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Adolescent
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Adult
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Antibody Specificity
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Atrophy
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Autoantibodies / immunology*
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Autoantigens / immunology*
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Child
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Female
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Humans
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Hyperplasia
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Lymphocyte Subsets / immunology
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Male
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Myasthenia Gravis / classification
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Myasthenia Gravis / immunology*
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Myasthenia Gravis / pathology
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Myasthenia Gravis / surgery
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Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / immunology*
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Receptors, Cholinergic / immunology*
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Single-Blind Method
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Thymectomy
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Thymus Gland / immunology
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Thymus Gland / pathology*
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Thymus Gland / surgery
Substances
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Autoantibodies
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Autoantigens
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Receptors, Cholinergic
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MUSK protein, human
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Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases