The exact mechanisms are, however, not convincingly clarified, although removal of the thymus gland (thymectomy) in MG patients without a thymus neoplasm often have positive results.

Up to 75 of patients have an abnormality of the thymus 10 have a thymoma, a tumor (either benign or malignant) of the thymus, and other abnormalities are frequently found.

The transcervical approach, a less invasive procedure, allows for removal of the entire thymus gland through a small neck incision.

The surgical approaches to the removal of the thymus gland include transsternal (through the sternum, transcervical (through a small neck incision), and transthoracic (through one or both sides of the chest).

A naïve T cell or Th0 cell is a T cell that has differentiated in bone marrow, and successfully undergone the positive and negative processes of central selection in the thymus.