Myasthenia gravis, castleman disease, pemphigus, and anti‐phospholipid syndrome. Issue 3 (6th February 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jakubíková, Michala; Piťha, Jiří; Latta, Jan; Ehler, Edvard; Schutzner, Jan
• Is Part Of: Muscle & nerve. Volume 47:Issue 3(2013:Mar.)
• Page Start: 447
• Page End: 451
• Publication Date: 2013-02-06
• Subjects: Neuromuscular diseases -- Periodicals; Muscles -- Periodicals; Nerves -- Periodicals; 616.74
• DOI: 10.1002/mus.23657
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0148-639X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p> <italic>Introduction</italic>: Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease marked by neuromuscular transmission failure at the neuromuscular junction. Castleman disease is a rare lymphoproliferative disease characterized by non‐cancerous angiofolicular hyperplasia of lymphatic tissue. <italic>Methods and results</italic>: We describe a young man with rapid, successive manifestations of myasthenia gravis, a solitary form of Castleman disease, pemphigus vulgaris, and anti‐phospholipid syndrome, which resulted in 2 ischemic cerebrovascular events that caused a severe central neurological deficit. <italic>Discussion</italic>: We were unable to find a similar case in the literature, but we hypothesize that the temporal concidence of these clinical entities may be related to a common immunological pathway, such as B‐cell activation. Therefore, we treated the patient with an immunosuppressant and anticoagulant treatment, as well as rituximab, a monoclonal antibody therapy against CD20+. <italic>Muscle Nerve</italic> 47:447‐451, 2013</p> </abstract>