Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0011168 (dysphagia)
 15,644 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cervical thymic anomalies are not as rare as previously suggested. Six cases were encountered over a relatively short period of time, prompting us to report them and emphasize the importance of this entity. Five of the six patients were children, two of them infants less than one year old. The occurrence of thymic remnants in the neck of young children is not surprising, considering the nature and behavior of the thymus at different stages of life. After a brief embryologic survey, the various types of cervical thymus (solitary ectopic, cystic, or partially arrested descent) and their pathogenesis are discussed. The rare occurrence of thyroid and parathyroid tissue within the mass of a large cervical thymic cyst is reported and evaluated. Cervical thymic lesions can either be symptomless or cause severe dyspnea and dysphagia, especially in the young infant. Accurate diagnosis and an intelligent surgical approach in the child with a cervical mass can avoid the obvious parental apprehension and lead to the correct treatment. Symptoms due to pressure on neighoring structures are promptly eliminated after excision, and prognosis is excellent.
 ...
PMID:The aberrant cervical thymus. Embryology, Pathology, and clinical implications. 70 45

Seventeen cases of myasthenia gravis, aged 20-79 years, including one case of ocular myasthenia gravis, seen over a 3 year period, were analysed. Dysphagia was the presenting symptom in two cases. One patient had ectopic thymus gland in relation to the cardiac border, which posed difficulty in diagnosis. A majority of the patients were on medical treatment, including neostigmine, prednisolone and azathioprim. Plasmapheresis was done in 4 cases during crisis, with significant benefit. One patient was put on intermittent ventilatory support for 14-16 hours a day for over 2 years; she died during a power failure. Seven patients were subjected to thymectomy.
 ...
PMID:Clinical spectrum of myasthenia gravis and problems of management. 181 93

A 12-year-old boy with massive true thymic hyperplasia presented with respiratory distress and dysphagia. The thymus weighed 245 g and demonstrated normal cortical and medullary components histologically. The findings in this case were compared with the clinical and pathologic features of seven previously published cases of massive hyperplasia and with cases of mild or "borderline" hyperplasia. By electron microscopy and immunoperoxidase techniques, myoid cell differentiation was demonstrated, the first documented example of myoid cells in thymic hyperplasia. These findings support the hypothesis that myoid cells are a normal component of thymic parenchyma.
 ...
PMID:Massive thymic hyperplasia with myoid cell differentiation. 331 55

A 5-month-old infant presented with severe dyspnea and dysphagia resulting from a right-sided cervical mass. At 5 months of age, a large aberrant thymus was excised, resulting in the disappearance of all symptoms. Pathological examination showed normal thymus tissue. Since the preoperative chest X-ray film showed a normal thymic shadow and the T-lymphocyte functions were normal, we conclude that this was not an ectopic gland but an undescended thymic implant.
 ...
PMID:Severe dyspnea and dysphagia resulting from an aberrant cervical thymus. 401 8

Between 1965 and 1982, we treated 46 patients with cystic lesions of the thymus. Thirty patients had anterior mediastinal cysts, nine had cysts which were large enough to be both cervical and mediastinal, and seven had cervical cysts. The majority (40/46) presented with asymptomatic masses. Six patients presented with distinct complaints: dysphagia (four patients), hoarseness owing to vocal cord paralysis (one patient), and cervical pain (one patient). All six had benign thymic cysts. The diagnosis of a cystic mass was established prior to operation by ultrasonography and computed axial tomography in our last three patients. These two techniques delineated the capsule and the central fluid in those three cases. All 46 patients had the mass resected without mortality or significant morbidity, except for resection of the phrenic nerve in one patient with malignant cystic thymoma. Cervical cysts were excised through cervical incisions. Cysts located in the anterior mediastinum and cervical-mediastinal cysts required median sternotomy or right thoracotomy for successful resection. Pathological examination showed that 39 patients had benign thymic cysts, three had benign cystic thymoma, two had malignant thymoma, one had a seminoma arising in the thymus, and one had a lymphoblastoma. We believe that a cystic thymic mass which can be detected by ultrasonography and computed tomography, although usually benign, does not eliminate the possibility of malignancy, and resection, therefore, is indicated.
 ...
PMID:Cystic lesion of the thymus. An occasionally malignant cervical and/or anterior mediastinal mass. 669 20

Ten patients with atrophy of the tongue, from a group of 752 with generalized acquired myasthenia gravis (MG), were studied. Tongue atrophy developed late in the majority of patients and was accompanied by tongue paresis (70% of the cases) and eventually associated to atrophy of other muscles of the palate, especially the uvula. All the patients exhibited severe forms of MG with bulbar involvement, mainly persistent dysphonia and dysphagia, almost always refractory to treatment. There is no correlation among atrophy of the tongue, sex, and thymus pathology. There is correlation between severeness of symptoms and early, persistent and treatment refractory dysphonia and dysphagia.
 ...
PMID:Atrophy of the tongue with persistent articulation disorder in myasthenia gravis: report of 10 patients. 777 22

The patient was a 79-year-old male. On CT of the chest, a mass shadow of the anterior mediastinum was found. He did not complain of symptoms, and there were no clinical signs of myasthenia gravis (MG) before surgery. The tumor and the thymus was completely resected. The pathological diagnosis was non-invasive thymoma, and his postoperative course was satisfactory. However, 2 months after the operation, the patient complained of ptosis, diplopia, dysphagia, and muscle weakness, which deteriorated rapidly. The titer of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody was high at 91.0 nmol/l. By medication of anti-cholinesterase drug and predonin, the symptoms of MG improved. After resection of thymoma, postoperative follow-up with considering the possibility of postoperative MG is necessary.
 ...
PMID:[A case of myasthenia gravis developing after resection of non-invasive thymoma]. 846 68

A 61-year-old woman in excellent health and taking no medications presented with progressive dyspnea on exertion. She did not exhibit diplopia, dysphagia, dysarthria or muscle weakness. Her condition deteriorated, and respiratory distress developed. The patient was intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation. A computed tomogram of her chest revealed a moderately enlarged thymus gland unsuspected on a plain x-ray film. Myasthenia gravis was diagnosed on the basis of a high acetylcholine receptor antibody titer. Treatment started with prednisolone, anticholinesterase agent, and plasma exchange. The patient underwent a thymectomy 3 weeks after her diagnosis. Her symptoms were brought under control by anticholinesterase agent and prednisolone. This case illustrates the need to consider myasthenia gravis as well as other motor-neuron disorders when evaluating individuals presenting acute respiratory failure of unknown origin.
 ...
PMID:[Myasthenia gravis presenting as isolated respiratory failure]. 989 33

We herein report a patient with myasthenia gravis (MG) and atopic dermatitis (AD). Heretofore, there have been no reports of patients with MG and AD. Nine years ago, a 25-year-old man noted muscle weakness of upper and lower extremities on physical labor, and the muscle weakness was gradually exacerbated. Two years ago, he noted acute skin eczema with itching on his hands and feet. Neurological examination revealed mild left ptosis, facial muscle weakness and proximal muscle weakness of upper and lower extremities, but no diplopia, ophthalmoplegia or dysphagia. Although anti-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antibody was negative, edrophonium test was positive and 54% waning in the thenar muscles was observed on Harvey-Masland test. Thus, he was diagnosed as limb-girdle type MG. IgE level in his serum elevated (1,818 U/ml). After thymectomy, the muscle weakness markedly improved as well as waning in the thenar muscles (11%). Simultaneously, AD markedly improved and serum IgE level was decreased (1,245 U/ml). Thus, MG and AD in this case may be derived from some common immunological aberrancy in the thymus.
 ...
PMID:[A patient with limb-girdle type myasthenia gravis and atopic dermatitis, both of which improved after thymectomy]. 1096 63

Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease resulting from the production of antibodies against the ACh receptors of the neuromuscular synapse. The thymus gland is involved in the autosensitization process, and the disease frequently is associated with thymic morphologic abnormalities. There is a consensus that all adults with generalized MG should have a thymectomy. This recommendation has been propagated by the safety of the procedure and excellent outcome. Removal of as much thymic tissue as possible (anterior mediastinal exenteration) by transsternal approach is the logical goal of thymectomy in the treatment of MG. Transcervical approach and VATS, however, are less invasive and have been used in patients who have MG unaccompanied by thymoma. Optimization of the condition of the myasthenic patients can markedly decrease the risk of surgery and improve the outcome. Two techniques have been recommended for general anesthesia in the myasthenic patient. Because of the unpredictable response to succinylcholine and the marked sensitivity to nondepolarizing muscle relaxants, some anesthesiologists avoid muscle relaxants and depend on deep inhalational anesthesia, such as halothane, isoflurane, or sevoflurane, for tracheal intubation and maintenance of anesthesia. Others, however, use a balanced technique of anesthesia that includes the use of carefully titrated muscle relaxants. The most important preoperative factor predicting the need for postoperative mechanical ventilation is the severity of bulbar involvement (Ossermann group 3 and 4), usually indicated by significant dysphagia and dysarthria associated with borderline respiratory dysfunction. Thymectomy benefits nearly 96% of patients: 46% develop complete remission, 50% are asymptomatic or improve on therapy, and 4% remain the same. The time from diagnosis to surgery is shorter than 8 months, and mild or moderate myasthenic symptoms are the main prognostic factors that predict the best outcome after thymectomy.
 ...
PMID:Anesthesia and critical care of thymectomy for myasthenia gravis. 1141 60


1 2 3 Next >>