Impact of minimally invasive trans-cervical thymectomy on outcome in patients with myasthenia gravis

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Abstract
Objective: To study the impact of minimally invasive trans-cervical thymectomy on the incidence of remission of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) in a single institution over a 10-year period. Methods: A total of 120 consecutive patients referred for video-assisted trans-cervical thymectomy between 1991 and 2000 were included in the analysis. Complete remission was defined as no symptoms and no treatment for 6 months, and remission as minimal ocular symptoms (slight ptosis) or treatment with pyridostigmine only for 6 months. Results: There were 86 females and 34 males with a median age of 33 (range 14–79) and 36 years (range 12–68), respectively. Symptoms of MG lasted between 2 months and 17 years before thymectomy (median 10 months). Surgery was converted to a partial upper sternotomy in 23 cases (19%). The median hospital stay decreased from 2 days (range 1–8) before 1994 to 1 day (range 1–8) thereafter (pConclusions: Minimally invasive trans-cervical thymectomy can be performed with short hospital stay and low morbidity, and achieve excellent durable results at 10 years.

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