TSH receptor antibody titers measured with a third-generation assay did not reflect the activity of Graves' ophthalmopathy in untreated Japanese Graves' disease patients.

TSH receptor antibody (TRAb) titer has been reported to be correlated with Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO). However, the correlation between GO activity and TRAb titer assessed with a third-generation assay has not been reported. We enrolled 238 untreated Graves' disease patients who came to the outpatient clinic of Ito Hospital and 28 patients who were euthyroid. All of the patients were assessed for GO by an ophthalmologist within 3 months of their initial visit to Ito Hospital. Clinical activity score (CAS), short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR), and sum of the maximum external orbital muscle areas (SEOMA) on a frontal sectional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The TRAb titer was significantly higher in patients with inactive ophthalmopathy (the inactive-GO group) than in patients with active ophthalmopathy (the active-GO group) (17.7 ± 13.5 IU/L vs. 13.0 ± 13.1 IU/L, p=0.0082). The SEOMA values were not correlated with TRAb titer. The prevalence of active-GO was higher in euthyroid patients than in hyperthyroid patients although the difference was not significant. In conclusion, TRAb titer measured with a third-generation assay dose not correlate with GO activity based on MRI findings in untreated Graves' disease patients, and the prevalence of active-GO is higher in euthyroid patients with lower TRAb titers than in hyperthyroid patients.

[Ophthalmic surgery on Graves' ophthalmopathy].

We evaluated various ophthalmic surgeries for patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy. In 2005, surgical procedures were employed on 178 patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy (male 69, female 109). Eyelid surgery was indicated for treatment of various anterior eye changes. Eyelid surgery was employed on 121 eyes of 84 cases. Extraocular muscle surgery was performed on 138 eyes of 105 cases, simple type 86 cases and complex type 19 cases. The cicatrical adhesion to the surface of the affected muscle was always observed. Orbital decompression was performed on 57 eyes of 33 cases. Better results and few complications were considered attributable to the stabilization of orbitopathy before surgery.

Ophthalmic surgery in dysthyroid ophthalmopathy.

The major focus of this study is to evaluate the ophthalmic surgery performed to treat patients with various eye changes of dysthyroid ophthalmopathy (DO) in Japan. The medical charts of DO cases that underwent eye surgery at the Olympia Eye Hospital in 1999 were reviewed. In 1999, 898 patients underwent ophthalmologic examination at the thyroid eye clinic in our hospital, and 51 cases were excluded out of the first visiting cases because they were hyperthyroid only and not associated with ophthalmopathy. This study consists of 847 cases (151 male, 696 female), mean age of 40.9 +/- 14.7 years, age distribution of 10-84 years. Surgical therapy was used on 129 eyes of 93 cases (11%) among the 847 patients. Orbital decompression was performed on 26 eyes of 15 cases. Most Japanese patients are not associated with a strong degree of proptosis, showing on average less than 20 mm. Cases with 25 mm of proptosis were scarcely observed. Extraocular muscle surgery was performed on 84 eyes of 60 cases (bilateral 17 cases, unilateral 33 cases). Types of diplopia are as follows: upward gaze, 28 cases; outward gaze, 10 cases; downward gaze, 2 cases; and complex type, 10 cases. Concerning the pathogenesis of diplopia in DO, fibrotic change plays a dominant role, in which cicatrical adhesion to the surface of the muscle is always observed in extraocular muscle surgery. After removal of cicatrical adhesion, the forced duction is completely recovered. This explains the precise mechanism of this involvement. Eyelid surgery was used on 39 eyes of 30 cases (upper eyelid, 33 eyes; lower eyelid, 6 eyes). Eyelid surgery was indicated for treatment of various anterior eye changes including upper eyelid retraction, entropion of eyelids. Better results and few complications are considered attributable to the stabilization of orbitopathy.