Myasthenia Gravis and Epilepsy

Introduction The association of myasthenia gravis and epilepsy has rarely been noted in the literature. We have been able to find only two such cases (Fearnsides, 1915,8and Pages and Passouant, 195313). In view of the relative rarity of myasthenia gravis, the coincidence of this disease with epilepsy should be very low if based on chance only. We have, however, been impressed by the frequency with which the two conditions are present in the same patient in our experience. Eight * patients in a series of 180 cases of myasthenia gravis seen at the Presbyterian Hospital and Vanderbilt Clinic had convulsive seizures, and one additional patient had syncopal attacks without convulsive movements. It is the purpose of this paper to report the pertinent data on our cases and to discuss the possible causes of the coincidence of the two diseases. It is difficult to determine the over-all incidence of