[Effect of the treatment of hyperthyroidism on the course of exophthalmos]

The exophthalmos evolution in hyperthyroid patients was investigated: twenty patients were randomly assigned to treatment with radioiodine (group I followed 2-162 months) and 20 to treatment with thyroidectomy (group II followed 2-158 months). There was no correlation of sex age and follow up with exophthalmos evolution. In group I, exophthalmos improved in one patient (5%), did not change in ten (50%) and worsened in nine (45%). In group II it got better in six (30%), did not change in seven (35%) and got worse in seven (35%). The differences between the two groups were not statistically significant (p greater than 0.05). The postsurgical thyroid gamma-gram with one mCi of I-131 in group II showed absence of thyroid tissue in nine patients (45%) and remainders of the gland in 11 (55%) and apparently this did not influence the post treatment evolution. The length of pretreatment evolution did not influence the evolution post treatment. In summary, there was no correlation between exophthalmos evolution and kind of treatment in Graves' disease.