Preoperative High-Dose Steroid Has Long-Term Beneficial Effects for Myasthenia Gravis

Previous studies addressing preoperative steroid treatment have revealed that control of myasthenia gravis (MG) with steroids prior to surgery appeared to stabilize postoperative status. The purpose of our study was to clarify the clinical benefits of the preoperative programmed high-dose steroid tr...

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Main Authors: Syuichi Tetsuka, Ken-ichi Fujimoto, Kunihiko Ikeguchi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2013-01-01
Series:Neurology Research International
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/709480
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author Syuichi Tetsuka
Ken-ichi Fujimoto
Kunihiko Ikeguchi
author_facet Syuichi Tetsuka
Ken-ichi Fujimoto
Kunihiko Ikeguchi
author_sort Syuichi Tetsuka
collection DOAJ
description Previous studies addressing preoperative steroid treatment have revealed that control of myasthenia gravis (MG) with steroids prior to surgery appeared to stabilize postoperative status. The purpose of our study was to clarify the clinical benefits of the preoperative programmed high-dose steroid treatment on the long-term outcomes of MG patients. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 171 MG patients who were followed up after undergoing thymectomy in our hospital between 1988 and 2006. One hundred and thirteen patients in the programmed treatment group had received preoperative steroid treatment, while 58 patients received no steroid treatment during the preoperative period. Clinical remission, which was defined as the achievement of the modified pharmacologic remission (PR) for at least 1 year, and clinical benefits were compared between the two groups. With regard to the remission after thymectomy, Kaplan-Meier life-table curves for patients in the preoperative steroid treatment group versus those for patients in the no steroid preoperative treatment group revealed a significantly higher probability of the PR in the preoperative steroid treatment group (log-rank test, P<0.01). This study might be the first, as per our knowledge, to indicate that preoperative programmed high-dose steroid treatment has long-term beneficial effects for MG patients.
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spelling doaj-art-23dffaf2ef9248758779645ac6f91e3e2025-08-20T03:54:57ZengWileyNeurology Research International2090-18522090-18602013-01-01201310.1155/2013/709480709480Preoperative High-Dose Steroid Has Long-Term Beneficial Effects for Myasthenia GravisSyuichi Tetsuka0Ken-ichi Fujimoto1Kunihiko Ikeguchi2Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi 329-0498, JapanDivision of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi 329-0498, JapanDivision of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi 329-0498, JapanPrevious studies addressing preoperative steroid treatment have revealed that control of myasthenia gravis (MG) with steroids prior to surgery appeared to stabilize postoperative status. The purpose of our study was to clarify the clinical benefits of the preoperative programmed high-dose steroid treatment on the long-term outcomes of MG patients. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 171 MG patients who were followed up after undergoing thymectomy in our hospital between 1988 and 2006. One hundred and thirteen patients in the programmed treatment group had received preoperative steroid treatment, while 58 patients received no steroid treatment during the preoperative period. Clinical remission, which was defined as the achievement of the modified pharmacologic remission (PR) for at least 1 year, and clinical benefits were compared between the two groups. With regard to the remission after thymectomy, Kaplan-Meier life-table curves for patients in the preoperative steroid treatment group versus those for patients in the no steroid preoperative treatment group revealed a significantly higher probability of the PR in the preoperative steroid treatment group (log-rank test, P<0.01). This study might be the first, as per our knowledge, to indicate that preoperative programmed high-dose steroid treatment has long-term beneficial effects for MG patients.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/709480
spellingShingle Syuichi Tetsuka
Ken-ichi Fujimoto
Kunihiko Ikeguchi
Preoperative High-Dose Steroid Has Long-Term Beneficial Effects for Myasthenia Gravis
Neurology Research International
title Preoperative High-Dose Steroid Has Long-Term Beneficial Effects for Myasthenia Gravis
title_full Preoperative High-Dose Steroid Has Long-Term Beneficial Effects for Myasthenia Gravis
title_fullStr Preoperative High-Dose Steroid Has Long-Term Beneficial Effects for Myasthenia Gravis
title_full_unstemmed Preoperative High-Dose Steroid Has Long-Term Beneficial Effects for Myasthenia Gravis
title_short Preoperative High-Dose Steroid Has Long-Term Beneficial Effects for Myasthenia Gravis
title_sort preoperative high dose steroid has long term beneficial effects for myasthenia gravis
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/709480
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AT kunihikoikeguchi preoperativehighdosesteroidhaslongtermbeneficialeffectsformyastheniagravis