裘昌林教授治疗重症肌无力危象的中医经验总结

[目的]总结分析裘昌林教授救治重症肌无力危象的中医辨治思路。[方法]通过跟师学习、整理医案、复习相关中医文献,整理总结裘师临床抢救重症肌无力危象的中医辨治经验,分析重症肌无力危象的中医认识,中医治疗原则和用药方法,并列举医案分析。[结果]裘师认为,重症肌无力危象病情危重,属于中医大气下陷证,与脾肾密切相关,脾肾虚损为本,甚者脉微息弱、元气耗散而气脱,治疗重在急救脱陷、温肾敛阴,兼顾祛痰通腑,并且研用马钱子起沉疴。所举医案贯彻裘师辨治经验,遣方用药以健脾益气为主,补益肝肾为辅,佐以祛痰通腑,获得较好疗效。[结论]裘师基于中医病因病机,对重症肌无力危象进行辨证论治,遣方用药从虚出发,随证加减,配合西医治疗,能够提高疗效,减少不良反应,充分体现了中医药治疗重症肌无力危象的优势,其经验具有推广价值。     

The feasibility of quantitative MRI of extra‐ocular muscles in myasthenia gravis and Graves' orbitopathy

Although quantitative MRI can be instrumental in the diagnosis and assessment of disease progression in orbital diseases involving the extra‐ocular muscles (EOM), acquisition can be challenging as EOM are small and prone to eye‐motion artefacts. We explored the feasibility of assessing fat fractions (FF), muscle volumes and water T2 (T2_water) of EOM in healthy controls (HC), myasthenia gravis (MG) and Graves' orbitopathy (GO) patients. FF, EOM volumes and T2_water values were determined in 12 HC (aged 22‐65 years), 11 MG (aged 28‐71 years) and six GO (aged 28‐64 years) patients at 7 T using Dixon and multi‐echo spin‐echo sequences. The EOM were semi‐automatically 3D‐segmented by two independent observers. MANOVA and t‐tests were used to assess differences in FF, T2_water and volume of EOM between groups (P < .05). Bland–Altman limits of agreement (LoA) were used to assess the reproducibility of segmentations and Dixon scans. The scans were well tolerated by all subjects. The bias in FF between the repeated Dixon scans was ?0.7% (LoA: ±2.1%) for the different observers; the bias in FF was ?0.3% (LoA: ±2.8%) and 0.03 cm³ (LoA: ± 0.36 cm³) for volume. Mean FF of EOM in MG (14.1% ± 1.6%) was higher than in HC (10.4% ± 2.5%). Mean muscle volume was higher in both GO (1.2 ± 0.4 cm³) and MG (0.8 ± 0.2 cm³) compared with HC (0.6 ± 0.2 cm³). The average T2_water for all EOM was 24.6 ± 4.0 ms for HC, 24.0 ± 4.7 ms for MG patients and 27.4 ± 4.2 ms for the GO patient. Quantitative MRI at 7 T is feasible for measuring FF and muscle volumes of EOM in HC, MG and GO patients. The measured T2_water was on average comparable with skeletal muscle, although with higher variation between subjects. The increased FF in the EOM in MG patients suggests that EOM involvement in MG is accompanied by fat replacement. The unexpected EOM volume increase in MG may provide novel insights into underlying pathophysiological processes.     

重症肌无力胸腺切除术后呼吸道管理与并发症的防治

目的探讨重症肌无力胸腺切除术后呼吸道管理与并发症的防治。方法32例ICU收治的重症肌无力胸腺切除术后的患者,根据危象预测积分,分为普通组(积分<12分,n=21)和高危组(积分>12分,n=11),对两组患者术后呼吸机支持时间、拔管前后肌力恢复情况、自主呼吸情况、动脉血气分析情况以及两组患者术后体温、胸片和痰培养结果进行统计分析。结果高危组患者术后呼吸支持时间(18~30h,平均26h)大于普通组患者(4~28h,平均14h),两组有显著性差异(P<0.01),同时术后发热、胸片渗出影以及阳性痰培养结果的发生率也高于普通组。结论术后给予高危患者严密的监测和充分的呼吸支持,有助于降低重症肌无力危象的发生率和死亡率,同时应充分重视气道护理和感染的防治。     

How Much Drool Is Too Much?

A 3-year-old boy presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of “lethargy” and was found to have ptosis with eventual respiratory failure and need for emergent intubation. There is a broad differential for a patient with respiratory failure, and careful physical examination and history are imperative to reduce morbidity and prevent mortality. After further evaluation and workup, the diagnosis is ultimately revealed.     

Giant cell polymyositis associated with myasthenia gravis and thymoma

We report a case of a 40-year-old woman who developed generalized muscle weakness over a period of 2 months. Physical examination revealed palpable masses in her arms and hands. Serum creatine kinase levels were elevated. Electromyography showed myopathic changes and 3 Hz repetitive nerve stimulation revealed a decremental pattern on repetitive nerve stimulation. Muscle MRI demonstrated increased signal intensity in the biceps brachii on T1-weighted images. Chest CT scan showed a mediastinal mass suggestive of thymoma. Muscle biopsy revealed giant cell polymyositis. The patient was treated with cholinesterase inhibitors and corticosteroids with improvement of strength, and subsequently underwent thymectomy followed by radiotherapy.     

Cholinergic hyperactivity in patients with myasthenia gravis with MuSK antibodies: A neurophysiological study

ObjectivePatients with myasthenia gravis associated with muscle-specific tyrosine kinase antibodies (MuSK-MG) often manifest signs of cholinergic hyperactivity with standard doses of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChE-Is). Aim of the study was to investigate whether repetitive compound muscle action potential (R-CMAP), the neurophysiological correlate of cholinergic hyperactivity, was present in MuSK-MG irrespective of AChE-I treatment.MethodsPatients with confirmed diagnosis of MuSK-MG were consecutively enrolled during follow-up visits, from January 2019 to April 2020. All these subjects underwent the same neurophysiological protocol, including motor nerve conduction studies and repetitive nerve stimulation. In patients taking pyridostigmine, neurophysiological testing was performed at least 12 hours after the last dose. For comparison, the presence of R-CMAP was investigated in 20 consecutive acetylcholine receptor antibody positive myasthenia gravis (AChR-MG) patients.ResultsWe enrolled 25 MuSK-MG patients (20 females), aged 16–79 years at the study time, with disease duration ranging 0.6–48.8 years (median: 17.7 years). R-CMAP was detected in 12/25 (48%) MuSK-MG cases and in none of the AChR-MG controls (p = 0.0003). In the MuSK-MG population, a history of muscle cramps and fasciculations, during low-dose pyridostigmine therapy, was significantly more frequent in R-CMAP positive than in R-CMAP negative patients (100% vs 31%, p = 0.001). At the time of the study, the proportion of patients still symptomatic for MG was higher among R-CMAP positive cases (92% vs 23%, p = 0.0005).ConclusionsCholinergic hyperactivity is a relatively common finding in MuSK-MG patients, independent of AChE-I treatment, and may constitute an intrinsic feature of the disease.SignificanceR-CMAP detection can represent a useful diagnostic clue for MuSK-MG and predicts poor tolerance to AChE-Is.     

Suppression of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis by autologous T regulatory cells

Adoptive transfer of regulatory T (Treg) cells have been employed effectively for suppression of several animal models for autoimmune diseases. In order to employ Treg cell therapy in patients, it is necessary to generate Treg cells from the patient's own cells (autologous) that would be able to suppress effectively the disease in vivo, upon their reintroduction to the patient. Towards this objective, we report in the present study on a protocol for a successful immune-regulation of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) by ex vivo – generated autologous Treg cells. For this protocol bone marrow (BM) cells, are first cultured in the presence of GM-CSF, giving rise to a population of CD11c⁺MHCII⁺CD45RA⁺CD8^– DCs (BMDCs). Splenic CD4⁺ T cells are then co-cultured with the differentiated BM cells and expand to 90% of Foxp3⁺ Treg cells. In vitro assay exhibits a similar dose dependent manner in the suppression of T effector cells proliferation between Treg cells obtained from either healthy or sick donors. In addition, both Treg cells inhibit similarly the secretion of IFN-γ from activated splenocytes. Administration of 1 × 10⁶ ex-vivo generated Treg cells, I.V, to EAMG rats, modulates the disease following a single treatment, given 3 days or 3 weeks after disease induction. Similar disease inhibition was achieved when CD4 cells were taken from either healthy or sick donors. The disease suppression was accompanied by reduced levels of total AChR specific antibodies in the serum. Moreover, due to the polyclonality of the described Treg cell, we have examined whether this treatment approach could be also employed for the treatment of other autoimmune diseases involving Treg cells. Indeed, we demonstrated that the ex-vivo generated autologous Treg cells suppress Adjuvant Arthritis (AA) in rats.This study opens the way for the application of induced autologous Treg cell therapy for myasthenia gravis, as well as for other human autoimmune diseases involving Treg cells.     

CD45 Isoform Expression in Autoimmune Myasthenia Gravis

In myasthenia gravis (MG), humoral and cellular immune mechanisms are involved in the autoimmune pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the role of the CD45 molecule in MG, having recently reported an association in multiple sclerosis. CD45, a protein-tyrosine phophatase receptor type C (PTPRC), is essential for both thymic selection and peripheral activation of T and B cells. Our aims were to determine (a) the prevalence of a functional mutation in the CD45 gene (exon 4 77C &#77 G; prevalence analysis), and (b) the distribution of memory (CD45RO+) and naïve (CD45RA+) T cells in the peripheral blood (subset analysis). T cells from 78 patients with generalised MG were stained with monoclonal antibodies against CD45RO, CD45RA, CD4 and CD8 and quantified by four-colour flow cytometry. The control panel for the prevalence analysis (a) consisted of 303 healthy individuals. (b) From those, 67 age- and sex-matched probands were randomly selected as controls for the subset analysis. Patients were stratified according to their MG onset age, thymic pathology and immunosuppressive treatment. Statistical analysis was performed by Fisher's exact test, asymptotic &#104 2 test, the two-sided Mann-Whitney test and Spearman's correlation coefficient. As a result, the 77C &#77 G mutation in exon 4 of the CD45 gene was found in 1 of 78 patients versus none of the 303 controls. Thus, no association was detected with this single nucleotide polymorphism in MG patients overall. Surprisingly, however, ratios of CD45RO+ to CD45RA+ T cells were lower among CD8+ T cells from patients with late-onset MG ( P =0.023). Thymoma patients also showed a similar trend among CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells, as expected. These differences were not related to immunosuppressive drug treatment or thymectomy (in the 67 informative patients). Since there is no other evidence for increased thymopoiesis in late-onset MG, we propose an altered subset balance in the circulation.