Decrease of intraocular pressure after fat-removal orbital decompression in Graves disease.

Objective: To address the efficacy of fat-removal orbital decompression to reduce intraocular pressure in patients with Graves disease.

Methods: This cohort study included 64 eyes of 39 patients with Graves disease. Thirteen men and 36 women, with a mean age of 52.5 years (range, 27 to 80 years), underwent fat-removal orbital decompression. Intraocular pressure (applanation) and proptosis (Hertel exophthalmometry) were prospectively investigated before surgery and 1 week and 6 months after surgery.

Results: The volume of resected fat was 6.4+/- 4.5 (3 to 12) ml. The intraocular pressure in primary position decreased from 19.3+/- 4.4 mm Hg to 17.0+/- 2.9 mm Hg at 1 week (p<0.001) and 15.9+/- 3.7 mm Hg at 6 months (p<0.001). Mean proptosis dropped from 24.3+/- 2.5 mm before surgery to 19.9+/-3.0 mm at 1 week (p<0.01), and 19.9+/-3.1 mm at 6 months (p<0.01). Intraocular pressure decrease neither correlated to the volume of resected fat nor to proptosis reduction.

Conclusions: Fat removal reduces intraocular pressure in patients with Graves disease, with no correlation to the volume of resected fat.