Elderly-onset familial myasthenia gravis in two siblings

Tomoki Hirunagi; Koyo Tsujikawa; Yasuhiro Hasegawa; Kazuo Mano; Masahisa Katsuno

doi:10.1016/j.nmd.2016.03.005

Elderly-onset familial myasthenia gravis in two siblings

Neuromuscul Disord. 2016 Jun;26(6):347-9. doi: 10.1016/j.nmd.2016.03.005. Epub 2016 Mar 30.

Authors

Tomoki Hirunagi¹, Koyo Tsujikawa², Yasuhiro Hasegawa³, Kazuo Mano⁴, Masahisa Katsuno²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Nagoya Daiichi Red Cross Hospital, Aichi, Japan. Electronic address: t-hirunagi@nagoya-1st.jrc.or.jp.
² Department of Neurology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
³ Department of Neurology, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Aichi, Japan.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Nagoya Daiichi Red Cross Hospital, Aichi, Japan.

PMID: 27132121
DOI: 10.1016/j.nmd.2016.03.005

Abstract

Myasthenia gravis (MG) occasionally occurs in a family, but elderly-onset (≥65 years) familial MG has been rarely reported. We here report the case of two siblings with elderly-onset MG (mean onset age: 72.5 years) and present the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) profiles (HLA-A, -B, -DR) of their family. Both patients developed generalized MG with elevated serum acetylcholine receptor antibody titers at their seventies. Of six siblings, the two patients and one unaffected sibling shared the same HLA haplotypes. Our study indicates that elderly-onset MG can occur in a family and that familial occurrence of MG may be related to certain HLA alleles.

Keywords: Elderly-onset; Familial clustering; Familial myasthenia gravis; Human leukocyte antigen.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Age of Onset
Aged
Female
HLA Antigens / blood
Humans
Male
Myasthenia Gravis / blood
Myasthenia Gravis / immunology*
Receptors, Cholinergic / immunology*
Siblings*

Substances

HLA Antigens
Receptors, Cholinergic