Features of depression development in myasthenia gravis. Kalbus O.I., Makarov S.O., Shastun N.P., Somilo O.V., Bukreyeva Yu.V. The relative risk of developing depression in myasthenia gravis is 2.14 times higher than in the general population. The features of depression in myasthenia patients remain poorly understood and need to be clarified. The purpose of this work was to study the features of the development of depression in patients with myasthenia gravis. From 2014 to 2017, 182 patients with myasthenia gravis were examined. 147 (80.8%) patients had a generalized form of the disease, 35 (19.2%) had an ocular form. The clinical examination included assessment of complaints, medical history, neurological examination, as well as MGFA (Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America) disease class and subclass of the disease determination. The severity of myasthenia gravis has been quantified according to the QMG score (Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis Score). All the patients were examined for the titer of antibodies to acetylcholine receptors (AchR) and muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Patients were also tested for the presence of antibodies to titin and SOX1 by indirect immunofluorescence. To detect depression the Beck depression inventory (BDI) was used. The mean depression score in the total sample was 16.0 (10.0; 24.0), which corresponds to a moderate depression level. The mean depression score in patients with ocular form was 6.0 (3.0; 11.0) points (ie, depression is absent), whereas in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis-19.0 (12.0; 29.0) points (corresponds to moderate depression) (p <0.001). The distribution of patients with mild depression was also uneven: significantly bigger part of the patients was recorded with myasthenia gravis of class I (ocular form)-10 (28.6%), and with myasthenia gravis of class II-23 (44.2%). Among the patients with myasthenia gravis of class III, only 13 (20.3%) patients were reported with mild depression and 1 (3.2%) with class IV, p<0.001. The distribution of patients with moderate depression was the opposite of others: most patients had myasthenia gravis of class II-12 (18.8%), and there were no patients with myasthenia gravis of class I. A similar tendency is also observed in the case of severe depression: patients with myasthenia gravis of class II-23 (35.6%) dominated, to a lesser extent-patients with myasthenia gravis of class IV-6 (19.4%). Among patients with ocular myasthenia gravis, only 1 (2.9%) patient was found to have severe depression. Severe depression was mainly recorded in patients with myasthenia gravis of class IV-22 (71%) patients. The number of patients with severe depression has been decreased in the class of myasthenia gravis: 13 patients (20.3%) patients with ІІІ class, 1 (1.9%) with II class, no patients with class I. The degree of depression correlates with the clinical form of myasthenia gravis (ρ=-0.52; p<0.001), class (ρ=-0.30; p<0.001) and the subclass of the disease according to MGFA (ρ=-0.36; ...

The evaluation of approaches to the treatment of myasthenia gravis. Kalbus O.I., Shastun N.P., Makarov S.O., Bukreyeva Yu.V., Somilo O.V. Myasthenia gravis is a relatively rare autoimmune disease with an undetermined aetiology which affects neuromuscular junctions. Currently, the following approaches to the treatment of myasthenia gravis are mainly distinguished: symptomatic treatment with anticholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs), immunomodulatory therapy ("basic" therapy) with glucocorticoids, cytostatics, monoclonal antibodies; surgical treatment-thymectomy; short-term treatment with plasmapheresis and intravenous administration of immunoglobulin. The efficiency of treatment approaches to myasthenia gravis in Ukraine remains insufficiently studied. The purpose of this work is to analyse the therapeutic approaches in patients with myasthenia gravis depending on the clinical form and severity of the disease. Between 2014 and 2017, 182 patients with myasthenia gravis have been examined, out of which 147 (80.8%) were the patients with the generalized form of the disease and 35 (19.2%)-with its ocular form. The clinical neurological examination included the collection of complaints, an anamnesis of disease and life as well as a neurological examination. In all the patients, the level of antibodies to acetylcholine receptors (AchR) and to muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) has been measured, in terms of quantity as well, using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the presence of antibodies to titin and SOX1 has also been detected by means of indirect immunofluorescence. Of the total sample, less than a third (28.0%) of the patients examined received basic therapy; among them, there were no patients with the ocular form and only 34.7%-with the generalized form (p<0.001). Basic therapy is found more often among the patients with class II myasthenia gravis (51.9%), with a statistically significant (p<0.001) higher share of the patients receiving such a therapy than in classes III and IV (26.6% and 22.6% respectively). The structure of therapy in patients with classes III and IV has not shown any statistically significant difference (p=0.658), with symptomatic treatment being the predominant type of therapy. Undergoing basic therapy reduces the chances of a severe clinical course of myasthenia gravis (the QMG score of 17 and higher)-OR=0.52 (95.0% CI 0.14-0.90), p=0.032; fatal cases of the disease-OR=0.36 (95.0% CI 0.02-0.70), p=0.049. When basic therapy is used, the survival rate of the patients (Figure 2) is 42.0 years on average (95% CI 42.0-42.7) which is considerably higher (p=0.021) compared to that of the patients receiving symptomatic treatment only-33.0 years (95% CI 30.9-36.7). Immunomodulatory therapy was prescribed for only 28% of the patients in the total sample, for none of the patients with the ocular form of myasthenia gravis, and for 34.7% of the patients with the generalized myasthenia gravis. The prescription of immunomodulatory therapy reduces relative risks of a severe clinical course...