Analysis of clinical features of myasthenia gravis complicated with hyperthyroidism

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical features of patients with myasthenia gravis complicated with and without hyperthyroidism. METHODS: A total of 2083 patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) admitted in Center of Treatment of Myasthenia Gravis Hebei Province between January 2013 and July 2020 were retrospectively analyzed and divided into two groups: Group-A and Group-B, with 108 MG patients complicated with hyperthyroidism in Group-A and 1975 MG patients without thyroid disease in Group-B. The age of onset, gender, Osserman classification, acetylcholine receptor antibody and thymus status of the two groups were analyzed in the two groups. Independent-sample t test was used for intra-group comparison, and χ2 test was utilized for comparison of enumeration data. P<0.05 indicates a statistically significant difference. RESULTS: The age of onset in Group-A was significantly lower than that in Group-B (p=0.000), the number of female patients was significantly higher than that in Group-B (p=0.037), and the level of Achrabs titer was significantly lower than that in Group-B (p=0.000). The incidence of thymoma in Group-A was significantly lower than that in Group-B (p=0.012), while the incidence of thymic hyperplasia was significantly higher than that in Group-B (p=0.000). CONCLUSION: Patients with MG complicated with hyperthyroidism are mainly female, with a lower age of onset, a lower level of acetylcholine receptor antibody, a lower incidence of thymoma, and a higher incidence of thymic hyperplasia. The clinical features of such patients are remarkably different from those of MG without thyroid disease.