Abstract:

Objective  To explore long-term prognosis of ocular myasthenia gravis(OMG) in children and its related factors. Method  s88 patients aged between 2 and 14 years at onset were selected for this follow-up survey, and they were primarily diagnosed as having OMG. The follow-up time was 5 years to 10 years. At the end of the follow-up, the long-term prognosis of OMG was evaluated and its related factors were analyzed by the Logistic regression. Results  At the end of the follow-up,13 patients (14.77%) were asymptomatic after taking drugs for about two years；59 patients (67.05%) remained having OMG throughout the follow-up duration, including 26 recrudescent patients after drug withdrawal；16 patients (18.18%) converted into generalized myasthenia gravis, most of whom (9/16, 56.25%) occurred within 1 year after onset. The long-term prognosis of OMG had a significant correlation with acetylcholine receptor (AchR) antibody and thymopathy, including thymoma and thymic hyperplasia（P＜0.05）. Conclusion  Prognosis of OMG in children has some distinctive characteristics and the probability of OMG converting into generalized myasthenia gravis is lower than that in adults. Several factors, such as AchR antibody and thymopathy, may have an impact on the risk of OMG developing into generalized disease in children.

Key words: Ocular myasthenia gravis； Prognosis； Acetylcholine receptor antibody； Thymic hyperplasia； Thymoma