[Use of computed tomography in the examination of patients with endocrine ophthalmopathy]

Combined investigation of 29 patients with Basedow's disease, 5 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis, and 4 patients with mixed toxic goiter was carried out including computerized tomography (CT) of the orbits. The investigation of 10 patients was repeated 6 months after the first one. Signs of endocrine ophthalmopathy were detected in 28 patients with Basedow's disease and in 2 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis. Characteristic CT signs of retrobulbar tissue changes in endocrine ophthalmopathy were defined. The use of CT of the orbits was shown to improve early diagnosis of endocrine ophthalmopathies, to assess the time course of the disease and therapeutic efficacy. The authors proposed 3 variants of endocrine ophthalmopathy with regard to the involvement of the oculomotor muscles or retrobulbar fat tissue, revealed by CT.