THE SURGICAL TREATMENT OF EXOPHTHALMOS

Abstract

Exophthalmos of slight degree may occur in high degrees of myopia, but when more marked it is commonly caused by the growth of soft tissue or bony tumors in the back of the orbit, and rarely it may be produced by arteriovenous aneurysm. The only constitutional disease causing the condition is exophthalmic goiter. The peculiar staring with widening of the palpebral fissure caused by myocardial disease is often confused with exophthalmos. In this way toxic goiter may be confused with true hyperthyroidism, as pointed out by Plummer.¹ Exophthalmic goiter was described by various observers in the latter half of the eighteenth century, notably by Morgagni²and Parry,³followed in the first half of the nineteenth century by further writings of Parry, Flajani,⁴Graves,⁵Basedow⁶and numerous others. Each described the symptoms of hyperthyroidism with sufficient accuracy to leave no doubt that their observations were