The Clinical Result of Somatuline(R) Therapy in Thyroid Ophthalmopathy

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Octreotide, a potent synthetic somatostatin (SM) analogue, was recently evaluated and found to have a beneficial effect in thyroid eye disease (TED). Lanreotide (LRT: Somatuline(R)), a new SM analogue, is more active and has a much longer duration of action. The aim of this study was to report the therapeutic effect of LRT on the treatment of TED. METHODS: Four patients of mean age 42.5 years had severe acute thyroid-related ophthalmopathy symptoms. The NOSPECS system was applied in this study to evaluate the response to treatment. They received 40 mg LRT i.m. every 2 weeks over a period of 3 months. RESULTS: All of them showed a significant improvement of acute inflammatory symptoms in both eyes. The average of TED score was 3.6, while it was 6.3 before the injection. Average clinical activity score of pre-injection was 4.1 and it markedly decreased to 1.3, and the self assessment score was 1.4, which means a moderate satisfaction. The amount of proptosis was found to decrease about 3.0 mm. CONCLUSIONS: We report our clinical experience that LRT has a beneficial effect on active TED and it is a good therapeutic modality for medical treatment.