Therapeutic outcomes of high-dose intravenous steroids in the treatment of sight-threatening Graves′ ophthalmopathy / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

ABSTRACT

Graves′ ophthalmopathy is a complex autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation and the orbital connective/adipose tissue with infiltration. About 3% to 7% of patients with Graves′ ophthalmopathy can have severe or very severe course of disease. In severe forms of Graves′ ophthalmopathy, there might occur considerable exophthalmos complicated in some cases with corneal ulceration due to incomplete closure of the eyelids and (or) pressure on optic nerve leading to neuropathy (dysthyroid optic neuropathy). The patient′s visual acuity and the color perception decreased sharply , which seriously affected the patients quality of life. In this paper, we explore effective therapies by compared the effects of high-dose intravenous steroids for the treatment of sight-threatening Graves′ ophthalmopathy in 2 cases.