A study on Etio-Pathology of proptosis in otorhinolaryngology

Twenty cases which presented with proptosis during the period of 1 year at the Madras Medical College & Govt. General Hospital, Madras, India were taken up for this prospective study. After a detailed ENT and ophthalmological examination, exophthalmometric readings were done on all cases. The etiological causes and other factors were analysed. Malignancies and benign tumours and tumour like lesions were found to be the commonest cause of proptosis. Infections which were once responsible for most cases of proptosis formed only a very small proportion. A person presenting with protosis as the only sign is most likely to suffer from a benign tumour or tumour like lesion while presence of other eye signs should raise the possibility of malignancies. The direction of proptosis was found to be more useful than exophthalmometric readings in determining the site of lesion.