Characteristics of rituximab-treated patients before and after 2017
| Rituximab-treated patients before 2017 | Rituximab-treated patients after 2017 | P value | |
| Patients, n | 39 | 18 | |
| Age at baseline, years, mean (SD) | 40.3 (16.3) | 44.9 (16.7) | 0.221 |
| Age at diagnosis, years, mean (SD) | 38.1 (17.4) | 42.1 (19.9) | 0.442 |
| Early onset MG, n (%) | 26 (66.7) | 13 (72.2) | 0.695 |
| Late onset MG, n (%) | 13 (33.3) | 5 (27.8) | 0.695 |
| Female patients, n (%) | 25 (64.1) | 14 (77.8) | 0.136 |
| Disease duration, years, mean (SD) | 7.1 (5.6) | 9.4 (9.7) | 0.098 |
| QMG score at baseline, mean (SD) | 11.5 (4.4) | 10.3 (6.4) | 0.438 |
| MGFA status at maximum severity, n (%) | |||
| I | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0.119 |
| II | 12 (30.1) | 6 (33.3) | |
| III | 15 (38.4) | 7 (38.9) | |
| IV | 9 (23.1) | 5 (27.8) | |
| V | 4 (10.2) | 2 (11.1) | |
| History of thymectomy, n (%) | 18 (46.1) | 10 (55.5) | 0.726 |
| Confirmed thymoma, n (%) | 5 (12.8) | 3 (16.7) | 0.698 |
| Total number of previous ISTs, median (minmum–maximum) | 2 (2–3) | 2 (2–3) | 0.331 |
| Previous disease modifying therapy, n (%) | |||
| Azathioprine | 36 (92.3) | 13 (72.2) | 0.093 |
| Mycophenolate | 20 (51.3) | 6 (33.3) | 0.174 |
| Methotrexate | 13 (33.3) | 11 (61.0) | 0.082 |
| Cyclosporine | 5 (12.8) | 2 (11.1) | 0.999 |
| Cortisone at baseline, mg, mean (SD) | 9.8 (11.2) | 10.8 (12.1) | 0.841 |
| Number of previous MC, median (minmum–maximum) | 1 (0–3) | 1 (0–2) | 0.865 |
Disease duration was defined as the time between symptom onset and baseline. Rituximab-treated patients included before 2017 were compared with rituximab-treated patients included after 2017 by two-sided Student’s t-test (*) or Fisher’s exact test (#). P values are given; significance cut-off was p<0.05.
IST, immunosuppressive therapy; MC, myasthenic crisis; MG, myasthenia gravis; MGFA, Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America; QMG, quantitative myasthenia gravis.