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Subject Area

Cardiac Surgery

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objective To investigate the efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) vs. plasma exchange (PLEX) as a preparation before thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). Background MG is an autoimmune disorder. Besides medications, thymectomy is usually used to manage MG patients. Some studies investigated the role of IVIG or PLEX in the preparation of thymectomy in MG patients to control perioperative and postoperative complications. The clinicians have met with a lack of adequate knowledge about superiority of IVIG or PLEX in preoperative preparation before thymectomy. Patients and methods This is retrospective study that was conducted on 14 patients with MG referred for thymectomy. Patients were assigned to two groups. The IVIG group (n = 7) received IVIG. The PLEX group (n = 7) underwent PLEX. Both methods were considered as preoperative preparation before the thymectomy. Results The duration of hospitalization preoperatively was significantly different between the two groups. The mean duration of hospitalization preoperatively of IVIG group was 1.86 ± 1.21 days vs. 4.43 ± 2.30 days for PLEX group (P value 0.02). Conclusion The interpretation of the results of the current study is limited by the retrospective design and low number of patients. However, patients in the IVIG group had less preoperative hospital length of stay.

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