Myasthenia Gravis with Elderly Onset at Advanced Age

Otto Jesus Hernandez Fustes; Carlos Arteaga Rodriguez; Olga Judith Hernandez Fustes

doi:10.7759/cureus.6808

Myasthenia Gravis with Elderly Onset at Advanced Age

Cureus. 2020 Jan 29;12(1):e6808. doi: 10.7759/cureus.6808.

Authors

Otto Jesus Hernandez Fustes¹, Carlos Arteaga Rodriguez², Olga Judith Hernandez Fustes³

Affiliations

¹ Neurology, Complexo Hospital de Clínicas - Universidade Federal do Paraná (CHC- UFPR), Curitiba, BRA.
² Neurology, Universidade Positivo, Curitiba, BRA.
³ Neurophysiology, Clinica Neurológica das Américas, Curitiba, BRA.

Abstract

Myasthenia gravis (MG) in older adults has not been extensively studied. The prevalence of this disease in older people seems to be higher in recent epidemiological studies. In patients with disease onset after the age of 70, the diagnosis is more difficult as other conditions are more easily taken to be the causal element. The mortality is higher than in young patients, so prompt specific treatment can improve prognosis. We present an 85-year-old female patient with speech disturbance and difficulty in swallowing solids, and neurological examination with palpebral ptosis, disphonia, convergent strabismus and weakness and mild progressive fatigue in arms, with electroneuromyography and acetylcholine receptor antibody who was diagnosed with MG, emphasizing the importance of this entity in geriatric patients.

Keywords: elderly onset; electroneuromyography; myasthenia gravis.

Publication types

Case Reports