REVIEW   

Minerva Oftalmologica 2017 March;59(1):7-13

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4903.17.01771-8

Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Update on ocular myasthenia gravis

Weijie V. LIN ¹, Saagar N. PATEL ¹, Ama SADAKA ², Shauna BERRY ², Andrew G. LEE ^{2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9} ✉

¹ School of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; ² Department of Ophthalmology, Blanton Eye Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA; ³ Department of Ophthalmology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; ⁴ Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA; ⁵ MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, TX, USA; ⁶ Department of Ophthalmology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, USA; ⁷ Department of Ophthalmology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA; ⁸ Department of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA; ⁹ Department of Neurosurgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a disease of the neuromuscular junction that is characterized by weakness and fatigability of voluntary muscles, mediated by the formation of antibodies directed against postsynaptic acetylcholine receptors. Ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG) is the fairly common presentation of MG with involvement confined to the muscles of the eye and eyelid. Testing for OMG includes rest/ice, edrophonium, antibodies, and electromyography. Treatment options to consider are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, thymectomy, and surgical correction for refractory cases. Prognosis is generally favorable, but the clinician and patient should be cognizant of the risk of generalized MG.

KEY WORDS: Myasthenia gravis - Autoimmune diseases of the nervous system - Muscle weakness - Cholinergic receptors