TUBERCULOSIS UNMASKS MYASTHENIA: A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

  • A Karak Junior resident, Department of General Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
  • A Chakrabarty Junior resident, Department of General Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
  • B Samanta Junior resident, Department of General Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
  • A Mukherjee Junior resident, Department of General Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
  • H Chakrabarty Junior resident, Department of General Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
  • R Maheshwari Junior resident, Department of General Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
  • S K Singha Junior resident, Department of General Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
  • A Talukdar Professor, Department of General Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, India
Keywords: Tuberculosis, Myasthenia gravis, Myasthenic crisis

Abstract

Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease of the neuromuscular junction where in acetylcholine receptor antibodies binds to and inhibits the action of acetylcholine, thereby presenting as weakness and fatigue on exertion. Myasthenic crisis is a life threatening condition which often mandates emergent life support measures. Tuberculosis is one of the most common causes of precipitation of myasthenic crisis in diagnosed cases of myasthenia. But here we report
a case of 25 year old female, diagnosed as sputum positive pulmonary tuberculosis, not a known case of myasthenia who presented to us with generalised weakness and severe type 2 respiratory failure subsequently diagnosed as myasthenic crisis. This case has been a singular experience and posed a challenge to us physicians with regards to successful management as because tuberculosis impeded the use of immunosuppressant to combat the highly fatal disease .

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How to Cite
1.
A Karak, A Chakrabarty, B Samanta, A Mukherjee, H Chakrabarty, R Maheshwari, S K Singha, A Talukdar. TUBERCULOSIS UNMASKS MYASTHENIA: A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE. Med. res. chronicles [Internet]. 2016Jun.30 [cited 2024Oct.3];3(03):261-5. Available from: https://medrech.com/index.php/medrech/article/view/174
Section
Original Research Article