Myasthenia gravis associated with invasive malignant thymoma: two case reports and a review of the literature

INTRODUCTION Approximately ten to fifteen percent of patients with myasthenia gravis are found to have a thymoma, and twenty to twenty-five percent of patients with thymoma have myasthenia gravis. Thymomatous myasthenia gravis tends to have a difficult clinical course and poor prognosis. CASE PRESENTATION We report two cases (one patient of Asian ethnicity and the other of Caucasian ethnicity) of atypical presentations of myasthenia gravis associated with invasive malignant thymoma. Both patients were diagnosed at a young age, in their 20s. They presented with a turbulent course of myasthenia gravis and recurrent thymoma, but obtained good outcome after aggressive treatment involving multiple different specialists. CONCLUSIONS Although thymomatous myasthenia gravis tends to have a difficult clinical course and poor prognosis, early and aggressive treatment along with multidisciplinary management may improve the outcome of these patients.