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The Effect of Plasmapheresis on Post-Thymectomy Ocular Dysfunction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

C.W. Olanow ,
A.D. Roses  and
J.W. Fay
C.W. Olanow*
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine (Division of Neurology), Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Department of Medicine (Division of Hematology-Oncology), Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
A.D. Roses*
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine (Division of Neurology), Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Department of Medicine (Division of Hematology-Oncology), Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
J.W. Fay*
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine (Division of Neurology), Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Department of Medicine (Division of Hematology-Oncology), Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
*
Department of Medicine (Neurology), Duke University Medical Center, Durham. North Carolina, USA. 27710
Department of Medicine (Neurology), Duke University Medical Center, Durham. North Carolina, USA. 27710
Department of Medicine (Neurology), Duke University Medical Center, Durham. North Carolina, USA. 27710
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Five myasthenia gravis patients with post-thymectomy residual ocular signs were treated with plasmapheresis. Despite a significant reduction in AChR antibody titer, there was no clinical improvement. Subsequently, there was a dramatic response to prednisone. The AChR antibody titer did not correlate with the clinical state of the individual patient. It is suggested that plasmapheresis may operate by removing a thymic factor and that prednisone acts by a different mechanism.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , May 1981 , pp. 169 - 172
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1981

References

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