Early-onset myasthenia gravis: clinical characteristics and response to therapy

We studied 59 children with myasthenia gravis (MG). Disease onset was pre-pubertal in 26 patients and post-pubertal in 33. The male to female ratio was 0.62 in the early- and 0.17 in the late-onset groups. The frequency of ocular MG was higher in patients with prepubertal onset. Patients with generalized MG generally showed a good response to thymectomy and corticosteroid therapy proved effective with no major side-effects. In our experience early-onset MG has the same course as in adult life. We recommend thymectomy for generalized disease in childhood, except in very young children on account of possible long-term effects on immunological development. Immunosuppressive therapy should be considered in severely affected patients who do not respond adequately to other therapies.