Treatment of myasthenia gravis
and the more recently approved eculizumab (Soliris) are intravenous medications for myasthenia gravis. These drugs are usually used for people who don't respond to other treatments. They can have serious side effects. Surgery Some people with myasthenia gravis have a tumor in the thymus gland. If you have a tumor, called a thymoma, doctors will surgically remove your thymus gland (thymectomy). Even if you don't have a tumor in the thymus gland, removing the gland might improve your myasthenia gravis symptoms. However, the benefits of thymectomy can take years to develop. A thymectomy can be performed as an open surgery or as a minimally invasive surgery. In open surgery, your surgeon splits the central breastbone (sternum) to open your chest and remove your thymus gland. Minimally invasive surgery to remove the thymus gland uses smaller incisions. It might also involve: Video-assisted thymectomy. In one form of this surgery, surgeons make a small incision in your neck or a few small incisions in the side of your chest. They then use a long, thin camera (video endoscope) and small instruments to see and remove the thymus gland. Robot-assisted thymectomy. In this form of thymectomy, surgeons make several small incisions in the side of your chest and remove the thymus gland using a robotic system, which includes a camera arm and mechanical arms.
