Esophageal Manometric Studies in Patients with Myasthenia Gravis

Abstract

Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular disorder manifested by weakness and fatigue of voluntary muscles [1, 2]; its etiology is not yet known. Autoimmune disorder involving the postsynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptor of skeletal muscles is the prevailing opinion [3]. The specific symptoms in a patient with myasthenia gravis at any particular time can be attributed to the distribution of clinically affected muscles and the degree of weakness. Dysphagia is often present early and eventually occurs in 40% of all patients with myasthenia gravis. The degree of involvement varies among patients and in the individual patient also. The patient with myasthenia gravis can swallow normally at the start of a meal but has progressive difficulty as the meal continues. Although dysphagia is a prominent symptom in many cases of myasthenia gravis, comparatively little work has been done on the study of esophageal dysfunction in this disease.