Andrews P I, Massey J M, Howard J F, Sanders D B
Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
Neurology. 1994 Jul;44(7):1208-14. doi: 10.1212/wnl.44.7.1208.
We assessed the influence of race, sex, and puberty upon clinical features and outcome in 115 patients with autoimmune juvenile myasthenia gravis (JMG). These demographic variables influenced not only disease incidence but also disease severity, response to therapy, and outcome, despite comparable therapeutic strategies. Among white patients, those with prepubertal onset had low incidence and equal sex ratio; the incidence in females increased during and after puberty; males had lesser disease severity than females during and after puberty (p < 0.05); spontaneous remissions were most frequent (44%, p = 0.001) and persistence of active JMG for more than 10 years was least frequent (p = 0.05) in patients with prepubertal onset; remissions were more frequent after early than late thymectomy (p = 0.03); and final disease severity was less after early than late thymectomy. Black patients had similar incidence, disease severity, and sex ratio (F:M = 2:1) with pre-, peri-, or postpubertal disease onset; infrequent spontaneous or treatment-induced remissions; and the same final disease severity after early or late thymectomy. These observations imply that race and sex hormones modify the clinical features and outcome of JMG; spontaneous remissions are common in white patients with prepubertal disease onset; early thymectomy may be more beneficial than late thymectomy in white patients; and the role of thymectomy in the youngest patients is uncertain. We suggest that demographic factors should be considered when evaluating past and future therapeutic strategies for JMG.
我们评估了种族、性别和青春期对115例自身免疫性青少年重症肌无力(JMG)患者临床特征及预后的影响。尽管治疗策略相似,但这些人口统计学变量不仅影响疾病发病率,还影响疾病严重程度、对治疗的反应及预后。在白人患者中,青春期前发病者发病率低且性别比例均衡;女性发病率在青春期及之后升高;青春期及之后男性疾病严重程度低于女性(p<0.05);青春期前发病患者自发缓解最为常见(44%,p=0.001),活动性JMG持续超过10年的情况最少见(p=0.05);早期胸腺切除术后缓解比晚期更频繁(p=0.03);早期胸腺切除术后最终疾病严重程度低于晚期。黑人患者在青春期前、青春期或青春期后发病时,发病率、疾病严重程度及性别比例相似(女:男=2:1);自发或治疗诱导的缓解罕见;早期或晚期胸腺切除术后最终疾病严重程度相同。这些观察结果表明,种族和性激素会改变JMG的临床特征和预后;青春期前发病的白人患者自发缓解常见;早期胸腺切除术对白人患者可能比晚期更有益;胸腺切除术对最年幼患者的作用尚不确定。我们建议,在评估JMG过去和未来的治疗策略时应考虑人口统计学因素。