Current aspects in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and therapy of myasthenia gravis

Recent years have witnessed significant advances in the pathogenetic understanding and therapy of autoimmune myasthenia gravis. New immunological and clinical data suggest a revised classification which has important prognostic and therapeutic implications. Although incompletely tested in controlled trials, immune-directed therapies are of undisputed efficacy and have dramatically improved the prognosis of myasthenic patients. Antigen-specific therapy has proven effective in preclinical animal studies and may offer future alternatives to nonspecific immunosuppression.