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J B Kuks

Publications and source records attributed to J B Kuks.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

HLA type is not indicative for the effect of thymectomy in myasthenia gravis.

The frequency of HLA types in a selected group of 40 patients with myasthenia gravis in relation to the effect of thymectomy and also to gender, and thymus histology was studied. As generally described we found a significant increase in the frequency of HLA-A1, HLA-B8, HLA-DR3 and HLA-DQ2 in the total group. There were no further differences between subgroups of patients, which demonstrates that HLA type is not indicative for the effect of thymectomy in myasthenia gravis.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Antibodies to acetylcholine receptors in myasthenia gravis. In vitro synthesis by peripheral blood lymphocytes before and after thymectomy.

Pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-driven in vitro synthesis of antibodies to the acetylcholine receptor (PSA) was studied in non-thymoma patients with myasthenia gravis. In a group of 46 patients, the occurrence of PSA was related to the presence of the thymus or, in operated patients, the absence of a clinical effect of thymectomy. Sixteen patients were followed before and soon after thymectomy. PSA disappeared in all patients, at least temporarily, between 6 weeks and 1 year afterwards, independent of the clinical course and eventual clinical effect of the operation. A recurrence was found only in one of the five patients who derived no benefit from the operation. These findings support the hypothesis that the therapeutic effect of thymectomy can be explained by removal of a source of autoreactive lymphocytes. There was no correlation between the changes in serum levels of a-AChR and clinical improvement, suggesting a minor role of circulating peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and the thymus in the total production of a-AChR.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies decrease after thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis. Clinical correlations.

Clinical course and changes in serum levels of antibodies to the acetylcholine receptor (a-AChR) were followed in 82 patients with myasthenia gravis during a period of 1-8 years after thymectomy. Decrease in a-AChR immediately after thymectomy was influenced by changes in a total IgG. Immunosuppressive medication affected serum a-AChR at all points of time. In a subgroup of 41 patients without thymoma who had no immunosuppressive drugs, there was a steady decrease in a-AChR concomitant with clinical improvement from 6 weeks after thymectomy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Azathioprine in myasthenia gravis: observations in 41 patients and a review of literature.

We report azathioprine treatment of 41 patients with myasthenia gravis, with a follow-up of more than 3 yr. The data show that azathioprine is effective in controlling the disease, both as a single drug as well as in combination with prednisone. In addition it may be steroid sparing. Older patients derived more benefit from the medicament. Side-effects could be managed fairly well, except for one patient who developed a non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Data from this study do not support the supposition that the therapeutic effect of azathioprine is dependent on macrocytosis. Fluctuations of serum levels of antibodies to the acetylcholine receptor were simultaneous with clinical changes and thus were not of predictive volume for the clinical course.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

EEG coherence functions for normal newborns in relation to their sleep state.

While power spectra provide little information about the properties of the newborn EEG, the coherence functions (especially interhemispheric) have a characteristic shape for each of the 2 sleep states. Coherence functions may therefore be clinically more important than spectra. For this reason, baseline data for normal newborns have been produced as a reference against which coherences from patients can be compared. It is stressed that for a sleeping newborn the behavioural state must be known for the coherence function to be interpretable. Furthermore, since intraindividual variability is large, data from long recordings are required. The results are discussed in the light of the existing literature.

Brain↗
PubMed1987

Coherence patterns of the infant sleep EEG in absence of the corpus callosum.

The role of the corpus callosum in the relationship between the EEGs of the two cerebral hemispheres was studied by comparing 3 infants with congenital agenesis of the corpus callosum with a group of neurologically normal infants. Coherence functions were computed for symmetrical pairs of EEG derivations; in the frequency bands below 4 Hz they were in general much lower in the acallosal infants than in the normals.

Agenesis of Corpus Callosum↗