[Spirometric evaluation of lung function in patients with myasthenia].

Unlabelled: Effort dyspnoea or dyspnoea at rest are predominating among subjective complaints in patients with myasthenia (myasthenia gravis--MG). THE AIM of the study was to evaluate the airway function in patients with MG by means of the chosen spirometric parameters analysis.

Material And Methods: We observed 68 patients with MG in which type I (the ocular myasthenia), type IIA (the mild generalized form), type IIB (the subacute generalized form) and type IIC (the acute generalized form) was diagnosed based on Osserman classification and on 20 healthy volunteers (control group--CG). The function of the airways was assessed by means of "flow-volume" spirometry.

Results: The mean values of FEV1, MEF25-75 i FVC in the type II MG were lower than in CG. The mean value of PEF in the type II was lower than in CG and lower than in type I. In the type I of MG the mean values of evaluated parameters were not different than in CG. Decrease of PEF value was the most often found. The frequency of decreased PEF and FEV1 values was higher in type II than in CG. In all types of generalized MG the reduced FVC was found more frequently than in healthy people. In each types of MG (the type IIA, IIB, IIC) the mean values of the estimated parameters and the frequency of the deviation from predicted values were not different.

Conclusion: The results show that in type II of MG the decrease of spirometric parameters is observed more often than in healthy people and these abnormalities are most marked in PEF. In the ocular MG the distinct tendency to FVC decrease is observed.