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 in:Cureus 2021, Vol.13 (8), p.e16880-e16880
Main Authors: Abudalou, Mohammad, Malkowski, Michael, Robles, Marcel R, Vega, Eduardo A, Slama, Michael C C
Format: Report
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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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