J Korean Soc Endocrinol.  2001 Feb;16(1):18-25.

Lanreotide Therapy in Graves' Ophthalmopathy

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 2Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Department of Ophthalmology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is an autoimmune process that affects the orbital tissues. Patients with GO are usually treated with high doses of corticosteroids, retrobulbar irradiation, or by surgical decompression, however, those have some adverse effect. Recently, a synthetic somatostatin analogue has been reported for the treatment of GO. This study was performed prospectively to evaluate the therapeutic effects of lanreotide, a potent long acting synthetic somatostatin analogue, in patients that have GO.
METHODS
Eight patients with moderate to severe GO (M:F=1:7, age 39.0+/-11.8 years) were included. Patients who had been treated with other modalities than GO, or had a systemic illness such as diabetes were excluded. Eight patients were given lanreotide, 40mg IM every 2 weeks over a period of 8 weeks. Their therapeutic responses were evaluated using an orbital CT or MRI and by ophthalmologic examinations.
RESULTS
After 8 weeks' of lanreotide treatment, 4 patients showed decreased scores in the NOSPECS classification (p=0.059) as well as 5 patients in their clinical activity scores(p=0.109). All of the 8 patients showed improvements according to clinical evaluation criteria (p=0.008). Significant changes in the thickness of both the lateral rectus and superior rectus muscles were observed (p<0.05). No patient showed serious adverse effects related to lanreotide therapy during the follow-up periods.
CONCLUSION
We conclude that lanreotide therapy has clinical benefits and show radiologic improvements in GO. Considering the minimal side-effects of lanreotide compared to those of corticosteroid, lanreotide therapy should be considered for use in selected patients that have Graves' ophthalmopathy


MeSH Terms

Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Classification
Decompression, Surgical
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Muscles
Orbit
Prospective Studies
Somatostatin
Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Somatostatin
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