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BackgroundMyasthenia gravis is an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder characterized by the production of abnormal autoantibodies directed against the receptors present in the neuromuscular junction. It has been the standard practice to offer thymectomy in all generalized myasthenia gravis patients despite the lack of robust evidence.ObjectivesThe objectives of this study are to describe the clinical profile and differentiate the clinical outcomes of thymectomy versus non-thymectomy and thymomatous versus non-thymomatous myasthenia gravis patients in the Philippine General Hospital.MethodologyBetween 2009 and 2014, a total of 69 postthymectomy and 16 non-thymectomy patient records were successfully retrieved. The demographic characteristics, surgical approach, and histopathologic results were obtained. The clinical outcome after 6 months or 1 year-follow-up was also determined and grouped according to the following: (1) complete remission, (2) pharmacological remission, (3) no clinical change, (4) worsening symptoms, and (5) mortality.ResultsMajority of the patients were females (68.0%) with a mean age of 39.8 years and a mean duration of myasthenic symptoms of 21 months. Using the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America classification, 54.1% of patients fell under Class II and 48.2% of them presented with generalized weakness. In this study, 60.8% of postthymectomy myasthenia gravis patients had either complete remission or pharmacologic remission compared with 12.5% among non-thymectomy patients (p-value <0.001). No significant difference in the clinical outcome was found between thymomatous and non-thymomatous myasthenia gravis after thymectomy (p-value = 0.29).ConclusionThis study showed that both thymomatous and non-thymomatous myasthenia gravis patients who underwent thymectomy had a higher incidence of complete stable remission and pharmacologic remission as compared with myasthenia gravis patients who did not undergo thymectomy.

Background: X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism (XDP) is a debilitating disease endemic in the Philippines. Several oral medications as well as botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) injection and deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery appear to be the cornerstone of treatment in XDP, which are commonly used in combination. Being a chronic progressive disease, it is an economic burden to the patient and their families. Thus, we aim to perform a comparative analysis of the associated healthcare costs for the therapeutic options used in XDP. Methodology: A questionnaire assessing the healthcare costs in the management of XDP was designed and administered through an interview with the XDP patients or their caregivers. We analyzed the data and a bootstrap analysis was also done to obtain a more generalizable estimation of the costs. Results: A total of 110 gene-positive XDP patients were included in this study. The mean total annual cost per patient was USD 4,861.23 (USD:PHP 1:50, as of January 8, 2018). More than half of the patients ( n = 61, 55.5%) received both oral medications and BoNT-A injection while 42 patients (38.2%) received oral medications alone. Only seven patients underwent DBS with a reported estimated cost of USD 50,931.43. The bootstrap analysis confirmed the estimates done in this study. Conclusion: The estimated costs in the management of XDP was shown to be 30 times the average annual health expenditure of an average Filipino. This calls for more government effort to provide comprehensive care for chronic and debilitating diseases such as XDP.

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