title: External ophthalmoplegia associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and recovered on corticosteroid treatment.
abstract: Five-year follow-up of a young male patient is presented. Total external ophthalmoplegia developed 1 week after an upper respiratory tract infection. After 3 years of the course, hyperthyreosis and clinical signs of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy occurred. Hashimoto's thyroiditis and ultrastructural signs of mitochondrial damage of striated muscle were found by histological investigations. The paresis of the external ocular muscles recovered after long-term corticosteroid treatment. On the basis of clinical symptoms and histological results, the authors supposed that an immunological reaction had caused mitochondrial damage in the striated muscles, which also resulted in thyroiditis. This case history points that autoimmune mechanism more frequently might participate in the pathogenesis of chronic external ophthalmoplegia, and the symptoms might precede organ-specific or perhaps systemic autoimmune disorders.
authors.affiliation: Neuromuscular Unit, Department of Neurology, Linköping University, Sweden. istvan.gati@lio.se
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gáti
authors.forename: Hajnalka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Merkli
authors.forename: Endre
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pál
authors.forename: Olof
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Danielsson
mesh_terms: D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D050031:Hashimoto Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009886:Ophthalmoplegia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D008775:Methylprednisolone