Long term treatment of myasthenia gravis with azathioprine.

Twenty-seven patients with myasthenia gravis have been treated with azathioprine in conjunction with pyridostigmine and prednisolone for a total of 138 patient years. Side effects necessitated discontinuation of treatment in only four patients. Treatment with azathioprine was associated with marked clinical improvement in all the remaining 23 patients, resulting in reduction in the dose of pyridostigmine and prednisolone. The number of hospital admissions as well as the number of episodes of respiratory failure were markedly reduced.