Myasthenia Gravis: an autoimmune disease: A Cross-sectional Study of Its Risk Factors, prevalence and Complications in Tripoli, Libya

الملخص

The term myasthenia gravis (MG) is derived from the Greek terms my, asthenia, and gravis, which mean muscle, weakness, and severe, respectively. It is a rare and fatal chronic autoimmune disorder in which circulating autoantibodies attack components of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) of skeletal muscle, most commonly the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR), blocking the resulting neuromuscular transmission. Muscle weakness usually worsens with continuous activity, and the patient improves with rest, while the severity ranges from mild eye muscle weakness to severe general muscle weakness. Aims: To determine the disease prevalence and to investigate its associated risk factors such as age, gender, health condition, and medications. Also, to determine the percentage of patients who have more complications, such as removal of the thymus gland. Materials and methods: This research was conducted on the period from June 2023 to January 2024. 50 MG patients were included in this study. After informed consent, patients' data were collected according to the previous provided survey. Results: 52% of the patients were females and 48% males, their average age was 43 years and the date of diagnosis was 5 years. 54% were suffering from other diseases in addition to GM disease. In terms of general laboratory parameters, there was a decrease in the levels of Vitamin D and Vit.B12, with an increase in the leukocytes count. In immunological analysis, an increase in both Anti-Acetylcholine Receptors and Anti Muscular Antibodies has been determined. Many symptoms associated with the disease have appeared, including Ptosis, Dysphagia, and Double Vision. Significant relationship between age and disease complications age and dysphagia (P=0.014) .Conclusion: In summary, this study demonstrated that risk factors can contribute to myasthenia relapse. Age of onset is an important predictor, there was a weak, statistically significant direct relationship between age and dysphagia, meaning that the older the age, the greater the impairment of dysphagia.