Abstract

PURPOSE:

To characterize clinical features, diagnostics studies, treatments, and outcomes of patients with histologically proven idiopathic sclerosing orbital inflammation (ISOI), to define optimal management for this recalcitrant disease, and to determine changes in characterization and management by comparing our results with the last significant literature review.

METHODS:

A search of the U.S. National Library of Medicine: National Institutes of Health's electronic database for cases and case series in the English literature of biopsy-proven ISOI published between March 1994 and September 2010 was conducted. A cross-literature review was performed to tabulate demographics, clinical findings, studies, treatments, and outcomes, which were compared with the ISOI data published by Rootman et al. (1994).

RESULTS:

Sixty-one cases, 71 eyes from 17 published reports, met inclusion criteria. No ethnic, sex, or comorbidity predilection was established. Patients typically presented in the fourth decade with proptosis (73%), pain (49%), and normal vision (44%). Orbital imaging and histopathology were sparsely reported. Most common treatments involved systemic corticosteroids either alone (34%) or combined with other modalities (51%).

CONCLUSIONS:

Characteristics of the disease remain unchanged, and best management was not determined due to inconsistent reporting methods across the literature. Collaboration with established groups (i.e., European Group On Graves Orbitopathy (EUGOGO), International Thyroid Eye Disease Society (ITEDS)) or the formation of a new group of physicians and scientists to help develop a systematic approach for future reporting and evaluation was proposed.