Myasthenia Gravis Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune neurologic disease that results when the thymus, a normally dormant gland in the chest, begins producing antibodies that interfere with the muscle's ability to contract.
Myasthenia can have a serious impact on the simple activities of daily living.
However, improvement may take months or years. Thymectomies have traditionally been performed by dividing the breastbone down the middle of the chest, the same incision used by cardiac surgeons for heart surgery. Because of the extent of the incision used with the traditional approach and the several weeks of recovery time, many people with myasthenia wait until their illness has progressed before having the operation . When the thymus is removed through a neck incision alone, the operation is called a transcervical thymectomy. Surgeons first performed the transcervical thymectomy in 1912 for a patient with myasthenia gravis.