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Tacrolimus in refractory patients with myasthenia gravis: coadministration and tapering of oral prednisolone.
- Source :
-
Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia [J Clin Neurosci] 2006 Jan; Vol. 13 (1), pp. 39-44. Date of Electronic Publication: 2005 Nov 22. - Publication Year :
- 2006
-
Abstract
- We prospectively investigated therapeutic and adverse effects of tacrolimus in seven patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) who were resistant to conventional therapies or could not be treated with thymectomy because of complications. Within two months of initiation of tacrolimus all the patients subjectively showed improvement of clinical symptoms, while both the quantitative MG score for disease severity and MG-activities of daily living profile were significantly decreased (p<0.05) 3 and 6 months after commencement compared with before. Nine months after initiation and later, MG temporarily exacerbated in two patients with rapid tapering of oral prednisolone and one non-thymectomized one. This drug is useful in the treatment of refractory patients with MG irrespective of thymectomy, particularly in the early phase after commencement. When tacrolimus is additionally used for treatment of MG, preceding drugs, particularly corticosteroids such as oral prednisolone, should be carefully tapered if necessary in order to prevent clinical exacerbation.
- Subjects :
- Administration, Oral
Adult
Aged
Antibodies blood
Drug Therapy, Combination
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Myasthenia Gravis complications
Prospective Studies
Receptors, Cholinergic immunology
Retrospective Studies
Severity of Illness Index
Time Factors
Treatment Outcome
Anti-Inflammatory Agents administration & dosage
Immunosuppressive Agents therapeutic use
Myasthenia Gravis drug therapy
Prednisolone administration & dosage
Tacrolimus therapeutic use
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0967-5868
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 16307880
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocn.2004.12.008