Exophthalmos or bulging eyes
Exophthalmos is an ophthalmological condition that may be associated with different pathologies, such as, for example, disorders in the production of thyroid hormone.
People with this condition have bulging eyes or protruding from the structure of the eyeball. However, it is important to keep in mind that not all people with very protruding eyes suffer from exophthalmos.
Outgoing eye disease triggers an important inflammatory process that can reach affect the optic nerve, hence the importance of a timely diagnosis to avoid complications.
Exophthalmos or bulging eyes
Exophthalmos is an ophthalmological condition that may be associated with different pathologies, such as, for example, disorders in the production of thyroid hormone.
People with this condition have bulging eyes or protruding from the structure of the eyeball. However, it is important to keep in mind that not all people with very protruding eyes suffer from exophthalmos.
Outgoing eye disease triggers an important inflammatory process that can reach affect the optic nerve, hence the importance of a timely diagnosis to avoid complications.
What is exophthalmos?
To explain the definition of exophthalmos we can start by saying that it is the abnormal protrusion that occurs in one or both eyes, being a unilateral or bilateral exophthalmos. People who suffer from this condition have the white part of the eye projected forward of the eyeball, which gives the effect of bulging eyes y eyelid displacement.
Exophthalmos can cause a part of the cornea is exposed to air, which can generate lack of moisture and lubrication of the eyeball, causing symptoms similar to severe dry eye.
Exophthalmos is related to important conditions that are not necessarily linked to visual health.
Causes
The bulging eyes can be due to several reasons but there are some more common causes:
- Glaucoma.
- Hemangioma
- Hyperthyroidism
- Graves disease.
- Histiocytosis
- Neuroblastoma.
- Leukemia.
- Orbital cellulitis or periorbital.
- Rhabdomyosarcoma
Most cases of exophthalmos are caused by problems with the functioning of the thyroid gland, the most common being hyperthyroidism and Graves' disease.
People who suffer from any of these conditions have a higher risk of developing thyroid orbitopathy. This disease is inflammatory in nature and can compress the optic nerve to such an extent that it causes loss of vision.
How to identify the first symptoms?
It is important to know how to detect the first symptoms of exophthalmos to act as soon as possible.
These are the first indications:
- The most obvious symptom in people suffering from exophthalmos is the forward projection: outside, of the structures that make up the eyeball. The periocular area and displacement of the eyelids can also be observed.
- When the exophthalmos is very advanced, the person can present difficulty closing eyelids correctly. This symptom can generate ocular dryness.
- Those who suffer exophthalmos due to hyperthyroidism have eyelid retraction, which further accentuates the ocular protrusion.
- Irritation or redness of the eye tissue.
- When there is dry eyes there may be ocular pain y photophobia.
- People with glaucoma or thyroid orbitopathy they also manifest pain due to pressure received by the optic nerve.
Diagnosing bulging eyes disease is very simple. A specialist in ophthalmology should perform an exophthalmometry to determine the degree of exophthalmos in one or both eyes.
In general, people with this condition have a very characteristic clinical picture that makes it very easy to predict the cause of the diagnosis.
Transmission
The treatment of exophthalmos depends exclusively on the cause that produces it because, although there are alternatives to treat bulging eyes, it is also important address the primary cause of this condition and avoid its possible complications.
Every day a little is advanced in the search for solutions for this disease. In fact recently a new treatment for thyroid exophthalmos came out.
Fortunately the thyroid exophthalmos, the most common, It can be cured through surgery for bulging eyes, even if in cases of bilateral exophthalmos.
Exophthalmos operation
This intervention is very simple and aims to restore the volume of space in the eyelids through grafts taken from the same patient.
Bulging eye surgery is advised when there is a major upper palpebral retraction.
To undergo this treatment, a thorough review of the ocular structure must be performed previously.
The surgery is carried out with Anesthesia local and sedation of the patient.
The grafts can be taken from different parts of the person's body. The amount of tissue will depend on the state of exophthalmos that the person presents.
There are no major risks associated with bulging eye surgery compared to other eye surgeries.
The treatment of exophthalmos is not exclusively surgical and requires that the person sustain indefinite endocrine control in case the bulging eyes are caused by hyperthyroidism or Graves' disease.
When the exophthalmos is caused by tumors or masses in the ocular structure it is very likely that it is necessary to perform the surgical removal of these anomalies.
Also, if the person has thyroid orbitopathy, they should use eye drops for dry eyes and medications to treat inflammation. If the inflammatory process is very severe, it may be necessary to perform a surgery of orbit decompression.
