Faculty Bibliography

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the association between risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and severity of thyroid eye disease (TED) using a validated OSA screening tool. METHODS:A prospective, observational cohort study was performed. New adult TED patients were offered OSA screening with the Snoring Tired Observed Pressure (STOP)-Bang survey during their initial evaluation. Clinical examination and treatment for TED were standard of care and utilized the International Thyroid Eye Disease Society Vision Inflammation Strabismus Appearance system. At the conclusion of the study period, analysis was performed correlating maximum severity of TED signs and symptoms between high- and low-risk OSA groups. Multivariate logistic and linear regression analyses were also performed to analyze the association between the numerical STOP-Bang score and maximum severity of the potentially actionable clinical features of TED (compressive optic neuropathy, vertical prism deviation, horizontal prism deviation, exophthalmos, vertical fissure height). RESULTS:Eighty-five patients met inclusion criteria. Twenty-eight percent were at high risk of OSA (STOP-Bang score of 3 or higher). When comparing the low- and high-risk cohorts, increased risk of OSA was significantly associated with the development of TED compressive optic neuropathy (p = 0.014), conjunctival injection (p = 0.027), chemosis (p = 0.013), upper eyelid edema (p = 0.024), lower eyelid edema (p = 0.003), eyelid erythema (p = 0.037), and vertical strabismus (p = 0.047). In the multivariate regression analyses, higher STOP-Bang scores correlated with increased risk of TED compressive optic neuropathy (p = 0.006), vertical strabismus (p = 0.019), and higher subjective diplopia scores (p = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS:Increased risk of OSA, as determined by the STOP-Bang survey, is associated with increased severity of multiple clinical features of TED, including TED compressive optic neuropathy and strabismus.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:To measure orbital cavernous hemangioma size using 3 segmentation methods requiring different degrees of subjective judgment, and to evaluate interobserver agreement using these methods. METHODS:Fourteen patients with orbital cavernous hemangiomas were included in the study. Pretreatment T2-weighted MRIs were analyzed by 2 observers using 3 methods, including 1 user-dependent image segmentation method that required high degrees of subjective judgment (ellipsoid) and 2 parameter-dependent methods that required low degree of subjective judgment (GrowCut and k-means clustering segmentation). Interobserver agreement was assessed using Lin's concordance correlation coefficients. RESULTS:Using the ellipsoid method, the average tumor sizes calculated by the 2 observers were 1.68 ml (standard deviation [SD] 1.45 ml) and 1.48 ml (SD 1.19 ml). Using the GrowCut method, the average tumor sizes calculated by the 2 observers were 3.00 ml (SD 2.46 ml) and 6.34 ml (SD 3.78 ml). Using k-means clustering segmentation, the average tumor sizes calculated by the 2 observers were 2.31 ml (SD 1.83 ml) and 2.12 ml (SD 1.87 ml). The concordance correlation coefficient for the ellipsoid, GrowCut, and k-means clustering methods were 0.92 (95% CI, 0.83-0.99), 0.12 (95% CI, -0.21 to 0.44), and 0.95 (95% CI, 0.90-0.99), respectively. CONCLUSIONS:k-means clustering, a parameter-dependent method with low degree of subjective judgment, showed better interobserver agreement compared with the ellipsoid and GrowCut methods. k-means clustering clearly delineated tumor boundaries and outlined components of the tumor with different signal intensities.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:To investigate the safety and efficacy of direct, intralesional doxycycline hyclate injection for improving the appearance of cosmetically significant lower eyelid festoons and malar edema. METHODS:An Institutional Review Board approved, retrospective review was performed of 15 consecutive patients with malar edema and/or festoons injected with doxycycline hyclate at a concentration of 10 mg/ml. Pre- and postinjection photographs were reviewed and graded on a scale of 0 to 3 (0: no festoon; 1: small festoon; 2: medium festoon; 3: large festoon) by 2 masked physician observers. Patients were excluded from the final analysis if they received an alternate dose concentration, had incomplete photographic records, or did not follow up. Student t test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS:Twenty consecutive treatment areas of 11 patients were included in the analysis. Final follow up ranged from 3 to 104 weeks, with a mean follow up of 22.5 weeks. The average (standard deviation) initial festoon grade of 2.5 (0.58) decreased to 0.9 (0.82) with a p value of <0.001. The average number of injections performed per side was 1.4 (range: 1-2). The mean volume per injection was 0.72 ml (range: 0.15-2.0 ml). Commonly documented subjective complaints were burning sensation with injection, pain, bruising, and erythema. There were no other dermatologic or visual complications following treatment. CONCLUSIONS:These preliminary results suggest that intralesional injections of doxycycline hyclate at a concentration of 10 mg/ml may be an effective treatment option for cosmetically significant lower eyelid festoons and malar edema. Future prospective studies with increased patient numbers, increasing concentrations, combination therapies with local anesthetic or regional nerve blocks, and longer follow up are needed to validate these results and determine optimal injection technique.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:To compare extraocular muscle volumes in thyroid eye disease patients with and without compressive optic neuropathy. METHODS:A retrospective review of 44 orbital CT scans (28 orbits without compressive disease and 16 orbits with compressive optic neuropathy) was conducted. The extraocular muscle volumes, summated soft tissue volumes, and optic nerve volumes were calculated at a section in the posterior 1/3 of the orbit. The visual fields of the orbits with compressive optic neuropathy were analyzed. RESULTS:The mean combined extraocular muscle/summated soft tissue volume ratio and the mean superior rectus-levator complex/summated soft tissue volume ratio were greater in those with compressive optic neuropathy than in those without compressive optic neuropathy (p = 0.02, 0.008, respectively). The ratio of the mean inferior, medial, or lateral rectus/summated soft tissue volume did not differ significantly between patients with or without compressive optic neuropathy (p values of 0.315, 0.615, and 0.254, respectively). Visual field analysis of the compressive optic neuropathy group demonstrated that 58% of the orbits with visual field defects had inferior field defects. CONCLUSIONS:When measured at a section near the orbital apex, the mean combined muscle/summated soft tissue volume ratio and the mean superior rectus-levator complex/summated soft tissue volume ratio are greater in those with compressive disease than those without. This suggests that the specific enlargement of the superior rectus-levator complex makes a significant contribution to thyroid eye disease-compressive optic neuropathy and may explain the inferior visual field deficits classically found in this group of patients.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:This study evaluates the reliability of a frequently used subjective measurement of orbital compliance (0-3 scale) and describes a simple, quantitative measure with excellent intra- and interrater reliability. METHODS:Two examiners performed both measurements on 100 orbits (50 consecutive patients) from the office of 1 oculoplastics surgeon. Each measurement was obtained at 2 different time points, 10 minutes apart. For the subjective measurement, the patient was asked to close their eyes, and the globe was displaced posteriorly with digital pressure until moderate resistance was felt. This was graded on a 0 to 3 scale. For the quantitative measurement (millimeter scale), the difference in axial displacement was measured using a Hertel exophthalmometer. RESULTS:The subjective measurement (scale, 0-3) showed excellent test-retest reliability (average, 0.901) for both examiners at both time points and good interobserver reliability (average, 0.677). The quantitative measurement (millimeter scale) showed excellent test-retest reliability (average, 0.848) and very good interobserver reliability (average, 0.756). CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:This study shows that while both methods have both excellent test-retest reliability, the interobserver reliability is slightly higher with the quantitative measurement. This suggests that the described measurement of orbital compliance is both a reasonable alternative and possibly more accurate measurement without the steep learning curve.

A 15-month-old male was referred for biopsy of presumed rhabdomyosarcoma in the setting of rapidly progressing left-sided proptosis. Examination revealed left periorbital edema and left hypoglobus. MRI revealed a soft-tissue density mass within the left lateral retrobulbar space. Several days later, he developed acute periorbital ecchymosis and increasing edema. With high suspicion for a vascular lesion, a CT scan was performed with dynamic arterial and venous imaging. Central filling was noted in the lateral retrobulbar component with increased enhancement on delayed venous imaging in the middle cranial fossa component favoring the diagnosis of a low-flow orbital venous malformation. In the setting of spontaneous orbital hemorrhage and risk of future vision loss, the decision was made to proceed with a combined neurosurgical approach treating the intracranial component and debulking the orbital component. This case highlights the importance of thorough radiographic evaluation prior to proceeding with a surgical procedure in the appropriate clinical context.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:Dermatofibromas are common cutaneous lesions, but rarely occur in the eyelid skin. The reason for the low incidence in the palpebral skin has not been elucidated. In this study, we analyze the histopathologic features of an illustrative case of dermatofibroma and review previously published cases to determine whether eyelid dermatofibroma develops differently from the prototypical dermatofibroma. METHODS:Histopathologic analysis of a new illustrative case of eyelid dermatofibroma and retrospective review of published cases. RESULTS:The distinguishing features of the illustrative lesion included a rounder gross appearance, nonacanthotic epithelium, basophilic staining, cellular character, and a paucity of "collagen trapping." These features deviated from the typical features associated with classic dermatofibroma. Review of the 11 previously published cases of eyelid dermatofibroma revealed that they were more similar in appearance to the illustrative lesion than to classic dermatofibroma. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:The rarity and histological deviations of the eyelid dermatofibroma suggest that the dermal substrate from which the lesion develops differs from that of the classic dermatofibroma. This difference may be explained microanatomically based on the fact that the dermis of the eyelid is predominantly papillary, whereas the dermis of extrapalpebral skin where dermatofibromas are more common is predominantly reticular. CONCLUSIONS:Although related, eyelid dermatofibromas appear to be histologically distinct from classic dermatofibromas, owing to the unique dermal composition of the site of origin.