Coexistence of Pernicious Anemia and Myasthenia Gravis—A Rare Combination of Autoimmune Diseases in Taiwan

Abstract

About 5-10% of patients with myasthenia gravis concomitantly have other autoimmune diseases. However, the coexistence of myasthenia gravis and pernicious anemia is rare. Here, we report a 73-year-old Taiwanese woman who developed myasthenia gravis 5 months after the onset of pernicious anemia. Her myasthenic and pernicious anemia symptoms markedly improved after pyridostigmine, prednisolone and hydroxo-cobalamine treatment. It is important to recognize concurrence of myasthenia gravis and pernicious anemia in the same patient because the therapeutic results for both diseases are rewarding.

Keywords

• myasthenia gravis
• pernicious anemia