RELATIONSHIPS OF ORBITAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC FINDINGS AND ACTIVITY SCORES TO THE PROGNOSIS OF CORTICOSTEROID-THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH GRAVES OPHTHALMOPATHY

To elucidate the relationships of orbital computed tomographic finding s and activity scores to the prognosis of corticosteroid therapy in pa tients with Graves' ophthalmopathy, 22 cases were treated with cortico steroid. Orbital computed tomographic was performed before treatment a nd the maximal muscle areas of rectus muscle bellies were calculated f rom the coronal images. Activity scores were calculated according to t he recommendations of an international ad hoc committee. The clinical severity of the eye disease was based on the NOSPECS classification. O bservation of the effectiveness of treatment at 6 months allowed patie nts to be classified into good responders or poor responders. Twelve o f 22 patients (54.5%) belonged to the good responders. The total muscl e areas were less in good responders. Although the total muscle areas were significantly correlated with the activity scores, no difference in the activity scores was noted between these two groups. We conclude d that although activity score seems to be a predictor of initial resp onsiveness to anti-inflammatory drugs, the maximal muscle area is a pr ognostic factor of corticosteroid therapy in patients with Graves' oph thalmopathy.