Severe Pediatric Thyroid Eye Disease: Surgical Case Series

Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg. 2017 May/Jun;33(3S Suppl 1):S186-S188. doi: 10.1097/IOP.0000000000000585.

Abstract

Thyroid eye disease (TED) usually has mild manifestations in pediatric patients, and orbital decompression is rarely necessarily. The authors present the clinical course of 3 pediatric patients age 16 or younger at the time of decompression surgery with severe orbitopathy. Case 1 is a 9-year-old prepubertal Asian-American female with Graves' disease and TED who underwent balanced decompression for compressive optic neuropathy. Case 2 is a 14-year-old white female with Graves' disease and TED who underwent balanced decompression for compressive optic neuropathy, stretch optic neuropathy, and globe subluxation. Case 3 is a 14-year-old African-American male with unilateral euthyroid TED who underwent staged right-sided lateral, medial, and floor decompressions for asymmetric proptosis. All cases also had disfiguring proptosis and exposure keratopathy, and in all cases, surgery successfully ameliorated the indications. Children, both pre- and post-pubertal, can rarely manifest visually threatening severe orbitopathy due to TED. This represents the first reports of thyroid-related optic neuropathy and globe subluxation in pediatric patients. Further studies examining the mechanism responsible for the disparities in pediatric and adult TED are warranted.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Decompression, Surgical / methods*
  • Female
  • Graves Ophthalmopathy / diagnosis
  • Graves Ophthalmopathy / surgery*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures / methods*