Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-d5ftd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-09-05T00:19:49.106Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Myasthenia gravis presenting during general anaesthesia for oesophagoscopy – a cautionary tale

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Andrew J. Prior  and
Andrew R. Swanston
Andrew J. Prior*
Affiliation:
Department of ENT Surgery, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London.
Andrew R. Swanston
Affiliation:
Department of ENT Surgery, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London.
*
Mr A. J. Prior,Department of ENT Surgery,St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London EC1A 7BE.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We report myasthenia gravis presenting as dysphagia of acute onset in a 56-year-old female who had no other stigmata of the disease and who was generally well despite rheumatoid arthritis and hypothyroidism. She recovered respiratory function following a general anaesthetic for oesophagoscopy only when antimyasthenic treatment was instituted. She remains well to date. In patients who are known to have autoimmune diseases and who present with dysphagia, features of myasthenia gravis should be specifically sought.

Keywords

Myasthenia gravisAnaesthesiageneralcomplications

Information

Type
Clinical Records
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 108 , Issue 7 , July 1994 , pp. 599 - 600
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Blom, S., Zakrisson, J. E. (1974) The stapedius reflex in the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis. Journal of the Neurological Sciences 21: 71–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carpenter, R. J., McDonald, T. J., Howard, F. M. (1979) The otolaryngologic presentation of myasthenia gravis. Laryngoscope 89: 922–928.Google Scholar
Gracey, D. R., Howard, F. M. Jr., Divertie, M. B. (1984) Plasmapheresis in the treatment of ventilator-dependent myasthenia gravis patients. Chest 85: 739–743.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jolly, F. (1895) Ueber myasthenia gravis pseudoparalytica. Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift 32: 1–7.Google Scholar
Keesey, J., Bein, M., Mink, J., Sample, P., Sarti, D., Mulder, D., Herrmann, C. Jr., Peter, J. B. (1980) Detection of thymoma in myasthenia gravis. Neurology 30: 233–239.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindstrom, J. M., Seybold, M. E., Lennon, V. A., Wittingham, S., Duane, D. D. (1976) Antibody to acetylcholine receptor in myasthenia gravis: prevalence, clinical correlates and diagnostic value. Neurology 26: 1054–1059.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oosterhuis, H. J. G. H. (1984a) Immunopathology. In Myasthenia gravis. Ch. 5. Churchill-Livingstone, Edinburgh, pp 104–127.Google Scholar
Oosterhuis, H. J. G. H. (1984b) Treating a myasthenic patient. In Myasthenia gravis. Ch. 9. Churchill-Livingstone, Edinburgh, pp 175–206.Google Scholar
Osserman, K. E., Jenkins, S. G. (1971) Studies in myasthenia gravis: review of 20-year experience in over 1000 patients. Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine 38: 497–537.Google Scholar
Ozdemir, C, Young, R. (1976) The results to be expected from electrical testing in the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 174: 203–222.Google Scholar
Rontal, M., Rontal, E., Leuchter, W., Rolnick, M. (1978) Voice spectrography in the evaluation of myasthenia gravis of the larynx. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology 87: 722–728.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmidt-Nowara, W. W., Marder, E. J., Feil, P. A. (1984) Respiratory failure in myasthenia gravis due to vocal cord paresis. Archives of Neurology 41: 567–568.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simpson, J. A. (1958) An evaluation of thymectomy in myasthenia gravis. Brain 81: 112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simpson, J. A. (1981) Myasthenia gravis and myasthenic syndromes. In Disorders of Voluntary Muscle. 4th Edition. Ch. 16. (Walton, J. M. ed.), Churchill-Livingstone. Edinburgh, pp 585–586.Google Scholar
Tyler, H. R. (1984) Neurology of the larynx. Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America 17: 75–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walton, J. (1985) Disorders of Muscle. In Brain's Diseases of the Nervous System. 9th Edition, Ch. 19. Oxford University Press, pp 567–574.Google Scholar