Coexistence of Pernicious Anemia and Myasthenia Gravis—A Rare Combination of Autoimmune Diseases in Taiwan

About 5-10% of patients with myasthenia gravis concomitantly have other autoimmune diseases. However, the coexistence of myasthenia gravis and pernicious anemia is rare. Here, we report a 73-year-old Taiwanese woman who developed myasthenia gravis 5 months after the onset of pernicious anemia. Her m...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kuo-Hsuan Chang, Rong-Kuo Lyu, Long-Sun Ro, Yih-Ru Wu, Chiung-Mei Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2006-01-01
Series:Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929664609601819
Description
Summary:About 5-10% of patients with myasthenia gravis concomitantly have other autoimmune diseases. However, the coexistence of myasthenia gravis and pernicious anemia is rare. Here, we report a 73-year-old Taiwanese woman who developed myasthenia gravis 5 months after the onset of pernicious anemia. Her myasthenic and pernicious anemia symptoms markedly improved after pyridostigmine, prednisolone and hydroxo-cobalamine treatment. It is important to recognize concurrence of myasthenia gravis and pernicious anemia in the same patient because the therapeutic results for both diseases are rewarding.
ISSN:0929-6646