A comparative study of myasthenic patients in the Czech and Slovak Republics

Authors

HORÁKOVÁ Magda MARTINKA I. VOHÁŇKA Stanislav ŠPALEK P. BEDNAŘÍK Josef

Year of publication 2019
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Česká a slovenská neurologie a neurochirurgie
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Medicine

Citation
Web http://dx.doi.org/10.14735/amcsnn2019171
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.14735/amcsnn2019171
Keywords myasthenia gravis; population characteristics; comparison; registries
Description Aim: Existing epidemiological studies of myasthenia feature differences in incidence, prevalence, age-and gender-specific incidences, mortality rate, and even the prevalence of myasthenia subtypes. The aim of this study was to compare the over all management of patients with myasthenia, the severity of the disease, and a number of clinical and laboratory characteristics and therapy approaches amongst patients in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Patients and methods: Data were retrospectively collected from two registries in the Czech Republic (Brno) and the Slovak Republic (Bratislava). Data were randomly matched by age of onset of myasthenia and gender. The resulting groups consisted of 152 patients each. Results: There was almost no significant difference between the matched groups. The clinical form, positivity of antibodies to acetylcholine receptor, Myasthenia Gravis Composite Score, time to diagnosis, and percentage of thymomas and thymectomy were not significantly different. There were significant differences only in the occurrence of limb weakness at the onset of disease and in the choice of treatment modality. Conclusions: Our data suggest that at least part of previously observed heterogeneity between populations might be based on different age and gender distribution.
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