[Tolosa Hunt syndrome and autoimmune polyglandular syndrome. A rare case report]

The authors refer to a case report in which two rare clinical syndromes, the Tolosa Hunt Syndrome (THS) and the polyglandular auto-immune syndrome (PGA) co-exist in the same patient and make a detailed analysis of the literature regarding this kind of diseases. The THS is a rare clinical condition characterized by a painful ophthalmoplegia due to an involvement of the cranial nerves and of the sympathetic nerve-fibres going through the cavernous sinus and the superior orbit cavity. Nowadays the diagnosis of TSH is made by high resolution computerized tomography aimed at the cavernous sinus and the upper orbital cavity. This method allows to notice if at the basis of this syndrome there are vascular, neoplastic or inflammatory diseases or if, as in e case here presented, by exclusion, we must think of an inflammatory process with unknown pathogenesis. In this case report the patient under observation process to be affected by THS and also by auto-immune polyglandular syndrome type III, as she was affected by diabetes type I, Basedow disease and alopecia. The authors believe that an auto-immune mechanism can be at basis of the THS, and this fact has already been pointed out in the literature in two previous works. An important feature of this case report has been the definitive improvement of the symptoms by an antithyroid effect and, also, by an immune suppressor activity. The Authors hope that there will be reported a greater number of cases pointing to the coexistence of the THS with autoimmune diseases.