Clinical observations of endocrine exophthalmos.

THE proper treatment of a given case of endocrine exophthalmos is often difficult and frequently of great consequence to the patient. On the physician's decision whether or not to depress the patient's thyroid activity may greatly depend the condition of the exophthalmos. This decision cannot be made on the degree of the protrusion alone, and the following article draws attention to a further clinical sign which may help in arriving at it. It is now generally admitted that the different conceptions of thyrotropic and thyrotoxic exophthalmos are unnecessary and that in endocrine exophthalmos the degenerative and infiltrative changes in the muscles and other tissues of the orbit are essentially the same, whether or not there is obvious over-activity of the thyroid. The following observations suggest that the degree of orbital change may differ in accordance with changes in thyroid activity.