GENETIC ASPECTS IN MYASTHENIA-GRAVIS - FAMILY STUDY OF 264 FINNISH PATIENTS

  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 56  (5) , 365-388
Abstract
The prevalence of myasthenia gravis (MG) in Finland was 264 patients/4.7 million inhabitants or 0.006%. Of these 264 patients 19 (17 females and 2 males) were familial cases from 8 families. MG occurred in 11 siblings, in 2 mothers and their child, and in 6 cousins. MG was not found in 3 or more successive generations. The familial MG resembled the non-familial disease. No concordance of MG among 5 sets of twins was found. The birth localities of grandparents seemed to have a slight tendency for accumulation, but no definite clusters were formed. Consanguinity between parents was found in 7 of 192 families. An increased frequency of collagen or thyroid diseases was found both in patients and parents, but they were not specially accumulated to the relatives of familial myasthenics. Neither autosomal nor sex-linked, dominant or recessive, nor some other uniform mode of inheritance in MG could be confirmed. Some genetical predisposition to MG seems to exist, but it may be common to autoimmunity as a whole.

This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit: