Post-varicella myasthenia gravis

Saha A, Batra P, Vilhekar KY, Chaturvedi P
Correspondence: Dr Prerna Batra, drprernabatra@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease of neuromuscular junctions. We report a three-year-old boy with post-varicella myasthenia gravis. This patient, to the best of our knowledge, is the youngest in age and second reported case of the condition. The patient presented with drooping of both eyelids which increased as the day progressed, two weeks after varicella infection. Repetitive nerve stimulation tests showed decremental response in action potential, and the child responded dramatically to test doses of neostigmine. A diagnosis of post-varicella myasthenia gravis was made and the patient was started on oral pyridostigmine. He is doing well at follow-up and there is no recurrence of symptoms to date.

Keywords: myasthenia gravis, post-varicella myasthenia gravis, repetitive nerve stimulation test, varicella infection
Singapore Med J 2007; 48(6): e177–e180