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Case report
Trauma-induced myasthenia gravis: coincidence or causal relationship?
  1. Pakeeran Siriratnam1,
  2. Wenwen Zhang1 and
  3. Mark Faragher1,2
  1. 1Neuroscience, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  2. 2Department of Internal Medicine, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Wenwen Zhang; zhangwen{at}alfred.org.au

Abstract

We report a case of a 55-year-old man presenting with diplopia, masticatory weakness and dysarthria several weeks post multitrauma. The clinical suspicion of myasthenia gravis (MG) was supported with positive acetylcholine receptor antibodies and abnormal repetitive stimulation study. He responded well to pyridostigmine, intravenous immunoglobulin and oral prednisolone. In this report, we describe the timing and progression of MG in our patient, and review the literature pertaining to the relationship between trauma and MG. The search for definitive evidence of causation may be impractical, but should not delay the recognition and management of a treatable condition.

  • neuromuscular disease
  • trauma CNS /PNS

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2020-238415

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors Dr PS drafted the manuscript and consented the patient for this case report. Dr WZ has contributed to the manuscript. Dr MF is the primary neurologist providing medical care to the patient. He has also contributed to the manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.