Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Nov 14;44(1):431.
doi: 10.1007/s10792-024-03352-x.

Lacrimal gland enlargement in thyroid eye disease

Khizar Rana  1   2 , Carmelo Caltabiano  3   4 , Mark Beecher  3   4 , Sandy Patel  5 , James Slattery  3   4 , Weng Onn Chan  3   4 , Garry Davis  3   4 , Dinesh Selva  3   4
Affiliations

Lacrimal gland enlargement in thyroid eye disease

Khizar Rana et al. Int Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate lacrimal gland (LG) enlargement in thyroid eye disease (TED) patients on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on TED patients who had undergone fat-suppressed contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MRI of the orbits. The lacrimal gland was segmented on OsiriX in consecutive axial and coronal slices to determine its volume. Enlargement was defined as a volume greater than 1100mm3, based on previous normative data. Asymmetric enlargement was defined if one side was enlarged but the contralateral side was not. Clinical data including presentation (active/inactive) and presence or absence of dysthyroid optic neuropathy was evaluated.

Results: The study population consisted of 88 orbits from forty-four patients with a mean age of 53 ± 15 years, with 29 (65%) being female. Twelve patients (27%) had LG enlargement, with eight (18%) having bilateral enlargement and four (9%) having asymmetric enlargement. There was no significant difference in age (p = 0.17) or sex (p = 0.44) between the LG enlarged and non-enlarged groups. There was also no significant difference in the clinical activity (p = 0.46) or prevalence of dysthyroid optic neuropathy (p = 0.63) between the LG enlarged orbits and non-LG enlarged orbits.

Conclusion: Lacrimal gland enlargement may be observed in approximately thirty percent of TED patients, with asymmetric enlargement in approximately ten percent of cases.

Keywords: Graves; Lacrimal gland; Magnetic resonance imaging; Thyroid eye disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations Conflict of interest The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical approval The study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Central Adelaide Local Health Network ethics committee. Patient consent Individual patient consent was waived by ethics committee.

References

    1. Bingham CM, Harris MA, Realini T, Nguyen J, Hogg JP, Sivak-Callcott JA (2014) Calculated computed tomography volumes of lacrimal glands and comparison to clinical findings in patients with thyroid eye disease. Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg 30(2):116–118 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Huang D, Luo Q, Yang H, Mao Y (2014) Changes of lacrimal gland and tear inflammatory cytokines in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 55(8):4935–4943 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bartley GB, Fatourechi V, Kadrmas EF, Jacobsen SJ, Ilstrup DM, Garrity JA et al (1996) Clinical features of Graves’7 ophthalmopathy in an incidence cohort. Am J Ophthalmol 121(3):284–290 - DOI - PubMed
    1. McKeag D, Lane C, Lazarus JH, Baldeschi L, Boboridis K, Dickinson AJ et al (2007) Clinical features of dysthyroid optic neuropathy: a European Group on Graves’ Orbitopathy (EUGOGO) survey. Br J Ophthalmol 91(4):455–458 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rana K, Garg D, Patel S, Selva D (2024) Imaging of dysthyroid optic neuropathy. Eur J Ophthalmol 34(5):1346–1354 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources