[Myasthenia gravis: perioperative complications of 1002 transsternal thymectomies - historical overwiev of 34 years long practice at one institution].

Thymectomy became an important part of the treatment of myasthenia gravis, since Alfred Blalock reported about his first surgery 80 years ago. Despite of several different surgical techniques already accepted abroad, sternal approach was the almost exclusive exposure for thymectomy in Hungary till 2006. In this publication, we analyze the direct surgical consequences and complications of this method.