A Rare Presentation of a Rare Disease: Oropharyngeal Dysphagia as The Main Manifestation of Myasthenia Gravis

Oropharyngeal dysphagia is defined as the inability or difficulty to initiate swallowing. It has a wide array of etiologies including structural and neurologic diseases. Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare autoimmune condition caused by antibodies against the post-synaptic membranes of the neuromuscula...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 13; no. 8; p. e16880
Main Authors Abudalou, Mohammad, Malkowski, Michael, Robles, Marcel R, Vega, Eduardo A, Slama, Michael C C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Cureus 04.08.2021
Subjects
Gastroenterology
Neurology
deglutition
dysphagia
myasthenia gravis
oropharyngeal dysphagia
autoimmune
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Summary:Oropharyngeal dysphagia is defined as the inability or difficulty to initiate swallowing. It has a wide array of etiologies including structural and neurologic diseases. Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare autoimmune condition caused by antibodies against the post-synaptic membranes of the neuromuscular junction, leading to fatigable weakness of skeletal muscles. Bulbar symptoms are less prevalent than ocular symptoms or limb weakness but can be particularly morbid. Non-neurologists are more likely to be the first providers to evaluate patients with dysphagia and should be familiar with MG. We report a unique case of newly diagnosed MG with the initial presentation of solid food and liquid dysphagia.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.16880