More than 700 medical experts, pharmaceutical executives, patient advocates, and others are expected to converge on Washington, D.C., next month for the 2018 NORD Rare Diseases & Orphan Products Breakthrough Summit. The Oct. 15-16 event, sponsored by the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD), takes place at the…

Thymoma, a tumor of the thymus gland that can be benign or malignant, elevates ocular myasthenia gravis (MG) patients’ risk of developing a generalized form of the disease, a case series in Germany reported. Within two…

Patients with facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD) — a type of muscular dystrophy — can develop myasthenia gravis, possibly because of underlying immune dysfunction. A letter to the editor describing the case, titled “A case of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy and myasthenia gravis with positivity of anti-Ach receptor antibody: a fortuitous association?” was published…

Robot-assisted surgery to remove the thymus gland is considered a safe method of performing a thymectomy on myasthenia gravis patients, a recent study in Singapore shows. The study, “Robotic Thymectomy in Patients With Myasthenia Gravis,…

Myasthenia gravis patients have a greater risk of having autoimmune rheumatic diseases, especially those who underwent a thymectomy, according to researchers in Taiwan. Their study, “Thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis increases the risk of autoimmune rheumatic diseases: a nationwide cohort study,” was published in the journal Rheumatology.

Physicians should consider a myasthenia gravis diagnosis in patients who exhibit symptoms such as dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), dysphonia (difficulty speaking), palatal weakness, or a feeling that the tongue is swollen, according to a case report. The case study, “Misdiagnosis of myasthenia gravis presenting with tongue and palatal weakness,” was…

Hormones produced by adipose (fat) tissue, called adipokines, can help assess the progression and status of myasthenia gravis, researchers suggest. A team at Medical University of Silesia in Poland assessed the association between the levels of different adipokines and clinical factors that characterize myasthenia gravis. The study, “…

Argenx is one step closer to launching a global Phase 3 trial to evaluate the potential of its therapy candidate efgartigimod (ARGX-113) for generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG). Following feedback from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) in Japan…

Treatment with Lemtrada (alemtuzumab), approved for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, may increase the risk of patients developing other autoimmune diseases including myasthenia gravis, a case report suggests. The report, “Myasthenia gravis following alemtuzumab therapy for multiple sclerosis,” was published in the journal Neurology. A 24-year-old woman…

A new case report describes a rare case of a patient with rapid development and worsening of myasthenia gravis (MG) after a stem cell transplant. The research illustrates the importance of considering MG as a potential complication of transplants. The case study, titled “Myasthenia Gravis Presenting…