Jada Bascom Foundation
All conditions

Autoimmune conditions

Myasthenia gravis

Also called: MG · gMG · AChR-positive MG · MuSK-positive MG · Autoimmune myasthenia gravis · Acquired myasthenia gravis

What a donor has to do with this

A transplant is not a standard part of treating this condition. It is used rarely, in particular situations, and most people diagnosed with it will not have one.

This is our reading of published transplant guidelines for this condition, not a measurement of how many people need a donor. Where a source actually counted donors, the figure and the people it counted are shown further down. Where none did, we say so rather than estimate.

This page is not written out in full yet

We have not written this condition out in full yet. What is on this page — how a donor fits in, who it affects, and the sources behind that — is researched and linked, but the plain-English explanation of the condition itself is still to come.

What the evidence says

Who it affects
The UK NHS profile reviewed in 2023 reports that myasthenia gravis can begin at any age but typically starts in women under 40 and men over 60.
Treatments other than a transplant
Pyridostigmine, corticosteroids, azathioprine/mycophenolate, thymectomy when indicated, IVIg, and plasma exchange remain core treatments.; Targeted US approvals include eculizumab (2017), efgartigimod/Vyvgart (2021), ravulizumab (2022), and rozanolixizumab and zilucoplan (2023), with antibody/age-specific labels.; Rituximab is commonly considered for MuSK-positive or otherwise refractory disease despite variable regional labeling.
If a transplant is used, the cells come from
autologous mobilized peripheral-blood stem cells (dominant contemporary source); bone marrow: not reported in the opened disease-specific sources; cord blood: not reported in the opened disease-specific sources
How often the donor was unrelated
Not reported. No source we could read states this for this condition, so we do not give a number. An estimate here would be a guess dressed as evidence.

Where this gets complicated

The striking remission signal came from seven uncontrolled, highly selected patients treated at the Ottawa Hospital programme in Canada during 2001–2014 and reported in 2016; it predates several effective targeted drugs.; Antibody subtype, thymoma status, crisis history, organ reserve, and access to targeted agents materially change the transplant comparison.; EBMT recognition of evidence does not make HCT standard of care; prospective comparative evidence remains sparse.

Written for transplant clinicians, not for patients. We quote it so you can see what the guidance actually says:
“Prospective studies investigating the efficacy and safety of HSCT in the treatment of MG are warranted.”

It describes what teams consider in general. It cannot say what applies to any one person. Read the source.

Registries need people

An unrelated donor is not a usual part of treating this condition. Registering still matters, for the many conditions where it is.

Joining a registry is a cheek swab and a short health form. You are not matched to a condition — you are matched to a person, and it could be someone with any of the conditions in this library. You are contacted only if you turn out to be a possible match for someone, and you can ask questions and decline before anything else happens.

Find your registry

Related conditions

Others in autoimmune conditions. They are genuinely different diseases with different treatments — the group name is not a diagnosis.

Where this came from