Objectives: In some patients, autoimmune myasthenia gravis (MG) is associated with thymic hyperplasia or thymoma, and in some patients the thymoma is invasive. Little is known about the clinical course of subjects who present with MG and are found to have invasive thymoma.
Methods: We reviewed the patients at our clinic with MG and invasive thymoma, and have described their clinical features.
Results: Six MG patients were diagnosed with invasive thymoma. The subjects had extensive multimodal therapy. Two subjects died from uncontrolled neuromuscular respiratory failure despite aggressive immunosuppression, 2 subjects had other autoimmune disorders (Morvan syndrome and polymyositis), and 2 subjects are controlled on immunosuppression.
Conclusions: Patients with invasive thymoma and MG can have a poor outcome, with difficulty in controlling myasthenic symptoms and can have other clinically important autoimmune diseases.