[Myasthenia gravis treated with plasmapheresis]. / Myasthenia gravis lécená plazmaferézou.

Therapeutic plasmapheresis is nowadays the method of choice in severe cases of myasthenia gravis. The authors confirm the therapeutic effect of this method and emphasize its importance in the differential diagnosis of severe cases where myasthenia gravis is suspected only from clinical symptoms, and electromyographic, roentgenological and laboratory evidence (antibodies against acetylcholine receptors) is lacking. The mentioned procedure led to thymectomy with the finding of a tumour of the thymus within three and a half months after the development of the first symptoms of the disease.

Kinetics of mixed lymphocyte reaction after blood transfusions.

The kinetics of mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) was studied in an unrelated pair of potential kidney graft donor and recipient. The recipient immunological reactivity to donor cells was specifically modulated by donor blood transfusions. Prior to transfusions, recipient MLR to donor lymphocytes expressed as per cent of the relative response (% RR) was 85.73. It dropped to 43.75 on the 21st posttransfusion day, and was as low as 19.16 on the 151st day (5th month). Next, a gradual increase in MLR occurred. The % RR increased to 46.15 in the 9th month and returned close to the pretransfusion level, to 78.30, in the 12th month. Transplantation of the kidney from the potential donor was not performed.