Myasthenia gravis: determinants for independent ventilation after transsternal thymectomy.

We evaluated the respiratory function of 32 patients with myasthenia gravis who had transsternal thymectomy. Preoperative clinical, pulmonary function, and respiratory muscle pressure data were submitted to stepwise logistic regression analysis to identify preoperative factors that correlated with duration of supported ventilation after surgery. Ten patients (31%) had postoperative supported ventilation for more than 3 days. The duration of ventilatory support correlated most closely with maximal static expiratory pressure (r = 0.714, p less than 0.001). Expiratory weakness, by reducing cough efficacy, seems to be the main determinant that predicts need for longer postoperative supported ventilation.