Currently, there have been very few case reports regarding COVID-19 in patients with a known history of myasthenia gravis (MG). Muscular weakness in high-risk COVID-19 patients can lead to severe respiratory compromise. There are a few reported cases of severe myasthenic crisis following COVID-19, hypothesised likely due to involvement of the respiratory muscles and the use of immunosuppressive medication. In this paper recently published in Journal of Neurology, the authors report the first case of ocular MG developing concurrently with COVID-19 infection in a 65-year-old woman. Two weeks prior to hospitalisation, the patient suffered from cough, fever, and diarrhoea and was found to be positive for COVID-19 via a nasopharyngeal RT-PCR swab test. Electrodiagnostic testing showed decremental response over more than 10% on repetitive nerve stimulation test of orbicularis oculi and the patient tested positive for antibodies against the acetylcholine receptor.
DOI: 10.1007/s00415-020-10263-1