exophthalmos – This is a pathology in which the eyeball protrudes strongly from the orbital cavity. At the same time, the longitudinal size of the eye remains within the physiological norm. Such a violation leads to the fact that it is difficult for a person to move his eyes, he develops diplopia, the conjunctiva dries very much.
Exophthalmos was described as early as 1776 by Irish surgeon R. J. Graves. He considered this pathology within the framework of an endocrine disease. Soviet scientists in 1960 found that bulging eyes can be provoked not only by diseases of the thyroid gland, but also with growing tumors of the cerebellum. Although the endocrine nature of the pathology prevails in women. The average age of patients diagnosed with exophthalmos varies between 40-44 years, and in men within 45-49 years or 65-69 years. At the same time, in 95% of cases, exophthalmos manifests against the background of diffuse goiter of the thyroid gland, and only in 5% of cases it develops with autoimmune thyroiditis.
Video: what is exophthalmos?