Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Thymectomy in the Myasthenia Gravis Patient Registry

Objectives:To evaluate patient attitudes and beliefs toward thymectomy for myasthenia gravis (MG).Methods:The Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America administered a questionnaire to the MG Patient Registry, an ongoing longitudinal survey of adult MG patients. Questions assessed reasons for or against thymectomy and how hypothetical scenarios would have affected their decision.Results:Of 621 respondents, 190 (31%) reported a history of thymectomy. Of those who underwent thymectomy for nonthymomatous MG, 97 (51.6%) ranked symptom improvement as most important and 100 (53.2%) ranked reducing medication as least important. Among 431 nonthymectomy patients, the most frequent reason for not undergoing thymectomy was that their doctor did not discuss it (152 of 431 = 35.2%) and 235 (56.8%) said that they would have considered it more strongly if their doctor spent more time discussing it.Conclusions:Thymectomies are motivated more by symptoms than by medication, and a lack of neurologist discussion is the most common barrier to thymectomy.