Transition from hypothyroidism to Graves’ disease, development of thyroid eye disease, progression to optic neuropathy after inpatient pulse therapy, and long-term administration of outpatient pulse therapy: a case report with review of literature

A 55-year-old woman transitioned from hypothyroidism to Graves’ disease (GD) and then developed thyroid eye disease (TED) with proptosis and diplopia. After three cycles of daily methylprednisolone pulse therapy, her condition progressed to dysthyroid optic neuropathy with decreased visual acuity in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Koichiro Mizuochi, Yuji Hiromatsu, Yui Nakamura, Aya Sonezaki, Ayaka Adachi, Tamotsu Kato, Nobuhiko Wada, Tomohiro Kurose, Shiho Watanabe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Japan Endocrine Society 2025-01-01
Series:Endocrine Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/endocrj/72/1/72_EJ24-0347/_html/-char/en
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A 55-year-old woman transitioned from hypothyroidism to Graves’ disease (GD) and then developed thyroid eye disease (TED) with proptosis and diplopia. After three cycles of daily methylprednisolone pulse therapy, her condition progressed to dysthyroid optic neuropathy with decreased visual acuity in both eyes. Her clinical activity score (CAS) was 7 points. Orbital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that the enlarged extraocular muscles were compressing the optic nerve in the area of the cones. Although her visual acuity recovered during two further cycles of daily pulse therapy, disease activity persisted for 4 years. TED exacerbated five times. Each time, the patient received weekly pulse therapy with no adverse reactions until her ophthalmopathy was relieved. The total cumulative dose of methylprednisolone was 59.5 g. Thyroid-stimulating antibody (TSAb) was positive from the time of hypothyroidism onset and became strongly positive with the onset of GD and the progress of TED. In addition, MRI was useful for the evaluation of the pathophysiology of ophthalmopathy. This case report suggests that careful monitoring by both endocrinologists and ophthalmologists using CAS, ophthalmological assessments, TSAb measurement, and orbital MRI are useful for making treatment decisions for TED.
ISSN:1348-4540