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Thymus imaging in myasthenia gravis: The relevance in clinical practice
Author(s) -
Klimiec Elzbieta,
Quirke Mary,
Leite Maria Isabel,
HiltonJones David
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.26096
Subject(s) - thymoma , myasthenia gravis , thymectomy , medicine , radiological weapon , hyperplasia , thymus neoplasm , radiology , clinical significance , medical diagnosis , pathology
: The ability to distinguish between normal thymus, thymic hyperplasia, and thymoma should aid clinical management and decision making in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). We sought to determine the accuracy of routine imaging in predicting thymic pathology. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed records of patients with MG from the Oxford Myasthenia Centre registry who had undergone thymectomy. Each patient received 1 radiological diagnosis and 1 histological diagnosis. Results : We included 106 patients. Radiological and histological diagnoses agreed in 73 (68.9%) patients. Sensitivity and specificity, respectively, were calculated for each radiological diagnosis as follows: thymoma 90% and 95.5%, hyperplasia 17.6% and 98.6%, and normal 96.9% and 60.8%. Discussion : Routine chest computed tomography and MRI can effectively identify thymoma. However, they are not reliable tools to differentiate between thymic hyperplasia and normal thymus in patients with MG. Muscle Nerve 58 : 153–156, 2018