The best of the best: a review of select oculoplastic case series published in 2015

Abstract

This review summarizes three case series published in the field of oculoplastic surgery in the year 2015. The first article describes the use of hedgehog pathway inhibitors for medical therapy of advanced periocular basal cell carcinoma and basal cell nevus syndrome. The second describes the use of c-reactive protein as a marker for starting treatment with steroids in children with orbital cellulitis. The third article presents an endoscopic medial orbital fat decompression technique for treatment of proptosis in thyroid eye disease.

FIG 1.

Diagram of the Hedgehog pathway. Patched-1 transmembrane receptor (Ptch-1) is a tumor suppressor that normally inhibits the smoothened receptor (Smo). When a Hedgehog protein binds to Ptch-1, this inhibition stops and Smo is activated, leading to cellular proliferation and tumorigenesis. Vismodegib binds to and inactivates Smo, inhibiting downstream signaling.