[Unilateral pseudotumor of the orbit--an autoimmune disease?]

An eleven-year-old boy with congenital paresis of the left superior rectus eye muscle developed symptoms of acute left orbital expansion: pain, ptosis, redness, extraocular muscle dysfunction. Computer assisted tomography of the orbit showed typical signs of inflammatory orbital pseudotumor and immunological screening cryoglobulinemia. Short-term treatment with prednisone (2 mg/kg bodyweight/day) rapidly improved symptoms. However several relapses occurred following discontinuation of therapy. Therefore a long-term treatment with corticosteroids was instituted. The simultaneous development of inflammatory orbital pseudotumor and cryoglobulinemia support the hypothesis that orbital pseudotumor is an autoimmune disease. The meaning of the congenital superior rectus muscle paresis in this case for the development of the inflammatory process remains uncertain.