Features of depression development in myasthenia gravis

The relative risk of developing depression in myasthenia gravis is 2.14 times higher than in the general population. The features of depression in myasthenia patients remain poorly understood and need to be clarified. The purpose of this work was to study the features of the development of depression in patients with myasthenia gravis. From 2014 to 2017, 182 patients with myasthenia gravis were examined. 147 (80.8%) patients had a generalized form of the disease, 35 (19.2%) had an ocular form. The clinical examination included assessment of complaints, medical history, neurological examination, as well as MGFA (Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America) disease class and subclass of the disease determination. The severity of myasthenia gravis has been quantified according to the QMG score (Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis Score). All the patients were examined for the titer of antibodies to acetylcholine receptors (AchR) and muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Patients were also tested for the presence of antibodies to titin and SOX1 by indirect immunofluorescence. To detect depression the Beck depression inventory (BDI) was used. The mean depression score in the total sample was 16.0 (10.0; 24.0), which corresponds to a moderate depression level. The mean depression score in patients with ocular form was 6.0 (3.0; 11.0) points (ie, depression is absent), whereas in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis – 19.0 (12.0; 29.0) points (corresponds to moderate depression) (p