Observations on the Efficacy of Two Methods for the Treatment of Upper Eyelid Retraction in Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy

Observation of Unexplained Cases of Unilateral Upper Eyelid Retraction from Idiopathic Inflammation or an Atypical Form of Graves' Orbitopathy

BACKGROUND

We observed cases of unilateral upper eyelid retraction (UER) with unclear pathogenesis, where a definitive diagnosis of Graves' orbitopathy (GO) could not be made and other pathologies were ruled out. The aim is to present patients' findings, discuss possible underlying mechanisms, and to describe diagnostic testing and therapeutic approaches.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients were retrospectively analyzed who presented to the Department of Ophthalmology of LMU Munich between 2016 and 2021 without a definitive diagnosis of GO or other pathological causes.

RESULTS

Thirteen patients with unexplained UER were included; all showed thickening of the levator complex in imaging. When biopsy was performed, no malignancy could be detected. Therapeutic strategies included oral steroids and surgical upper eyelid blepharotomy.

CONCLUSION

As regards to pathogenesis, in 7/13 patients, a condition of idiopathic UER due to an idiopathic inflammatory response can be postulated rather than a variant of GO.

Risk factors for development of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis in thyroid eye disease in Japanese

PURPOSE

To analyse risk factors for the development of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis (SLK) in thyroid eye disease (TED).

METHODS

This prospective, observational study included 638 eyes/sides from 319 patients with TED. The eyes were classified into two groups, based on the presence and absence of SLK. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate potential risk factors, including sex, patient age, past treatment history (steroid, orbital radiotherapy and radioiodine therapy), smoking, clinical activity score, margin reflex distance (MRD)-1 and -2, Graefe sign/lid lag, Hertel exophthalmometric results, Schirmer's test results, tear break-up time (TBUT) and tear meniscus height (TMH).

RESULTS

SLK was found in 198 eyes (31.0%) from 121 patients. Young age (OR, 0.977; P = 0.006), smoker (OR, 1.785; P = 0.009), presence of Graefe sign (OR, 2.912; P < 0.001), absence of lid lag (OR, 0.485; P = 0.031), high Hertel exophthalmometric values (OR, 1.125; P = 0.002), shorter Schirmer's test results (OR, 0.962; P < 0.001), shorter TBUT (OR, 0.815; P = 0.002) and high upper TMH (OR, 1.003; P = 0.013) were associated with the development of SLK. A high MRD-1 measurement value also tended to be associated with a risk of SLK, with an OR of 1.187 (P = 0.056).

CONCLUSION

The present study proposed several risk factors in relation to the development of SLK in TED.

Detection and Correlation Analysis of Serum Uric Acid in Patients with Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy

Purpose

To probe the property of serum uric acid in evaluating the activity of patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy.

Methods

A total of 443 patients with TAO admitted to our hospital from March 2016 to February 2021 were selected for the observation group. Simultaneously, 443 healthy subjects were selected for the control group. The observation group was divided into the active group (n = 254) and the inactive group (n = 189) according to the clinical activity score (CAS). Besides, the patients were divided into mild group (n = 201), moderate severe group (n = 133) and extremely severe group (n = 109) based on the severity of TAO. Serum uric acid, free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroid hormone (FT4), thyrotropin stimulating hormone (TSH) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were detected and analyzed in each group.

Results

Serum UA, FT3, FT4, TSH and HbA1c in the active group were significantly enhanced than those in the other two groups (P < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between the inactive group and the control group (P > 0.05). In different disease severity groups, the serum UA level of patients in the active group was significantly promoted than that in the inactive group and control group (P < 0.05) and was decreased successively in extremely severe group, moderate severe group and mild group, with statistical significance (P < 0.05). Pearson's analysis showed that UA was positively correlated with FT3, FT4, and HbA1c (r = 0.652, P = 0.031; r = 0.571, P = 0.042; r = 0.737, P = 0.024), while was reversely correlated with TSH level (r = -0.137, P = 0.262). There was no correlation between UA and FT3, FT4, and HbA1c levels in the inactive group. UA detection showed the average sensitivity and specificity of TAO activity were 94.3% and 85.2%, respectively. There was no significant correlation between the severity of disease and serum UA in inactive patients (P = 0.135). There was a positive correlation between the severity of disease and serum UA in active patients (P = 0.005).

Conclusion

UA may be used as a laboratory indicator for quantitative clinical diagnosis of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) and as a parameter for the presence of TAO activity.