Hallmark Case Study

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C. Hallmark symptoms and characterization
The hallmark symptoms for MG include: fatigued muscle weakness, a fluctuation of symptoms, and overly sensitive reactions to environmental stressors (Spillane et al. 2012; Gilhus et al. 2011). Patients usually have worsening symptoms near the end of the day, and about 10% of patients have another autoimmune disorder (Gilhus et al. 2011). Often the most severe cases of MG lead to myasthenia crisis, an acute respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation of the patient, though any patient can go into crisis (Spillane et al. 2012; Mao et al. 2010). One of the most common symptoms is drooping of the eyes, ptosis.


D. Treatment and Prognosis
MG is occasionally treated with acetylcholinesterase …show more content…

His symptoms were strongly aligned with the hallmark characteristics of the disease, and his reception to treatment was largely without complication. It seems like the age of diagnosis, I am assuming in his mid- to late-twenties, was a strong factor in his full recovery. The issues with the case study that may have been simplified were that he required less than a year of immunosuppressant therapy. Spillane explained that immunosuppressant therapy was not always straight-forward, but that it required constant monitoring and adjustments. Continuing a career in football after such invasive surgery and therapies is somewhat unlikely, based on the discussion on recovery times and complications in both Gilhus et al. and Spillane et al. Also, Conti-Fine et al. explained that there are antibodies that interact with different parts of the pathway, making treatment more nuanced than simply addressing one antibody that has high affinity for the “acetylcholine receptor …show more content…

Works cited
Conti-fine, B. M., Milani, M., & Kaminski, H. J. (2006). Science in medicine Myasthenia gravis : past , present , and future, 116(11), 2843–2854. doi:10.1172/JCI29894.which
Gilhus, N. E., Owe, J. F., Hoff, J. M., Romi, F., Skeie, G. O., & Aarli, J. a. (2011). Myasthenia gravis: a review of available treatment approaches. Autoimmune Diseases, 2011, 847393. doi:10.4061/2011/847393
Mao, Z.-F., Mo, X., Qin, C., Lai, Y.-R., & Olde Hartman, T. C. (2010). Course and prognosis of myasthenia gravis: a systematic review. European Journal of Neurology : The Official Journal of the European Federation of Neurological Societies, 17(7), 913–21. doi:10.1111/j.1468-1331.2010.03017.x
Spillane, J. Highan, E. Kullman, D.M. (2012) Myasthenia gravis, 8497(December), 1–4.

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