Thermal imaging shows utility for monitoring the inflammatory state of Graves' ophthalmopathy

Digital infrared thermal imaging may be a useful tool for assessing the inflammatory state of Graves' ophthalmopathy and the outcomes from treatment with methylprednisolone pulse therapy, according to a study by researchers in Taiwan.

Tien-Chun Chang, MD, PhD, and colleagues at National Taiwan University evaluated the effectiveness of digital infrared thermal imaging for determining the inflammatory state of 28 eyes in 14 patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy. They compared the findings with those of 32 eyes in 16 normal control subjects.

Additionally, investigators administered methylprednisolone pulse therapy to 22 eyes of 11 patients with active Graves' ophthalmopathy to compare focal temperature changes after treatment and the correlation between temperature variance and changes in clinical activity, according to the study.

The researchers found that patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy had significantly higher local temperatures of the caruncle, medial conjunctiva, lateral conjunctiva and lower eyelid compared with controls. Also, temperatures of the caruncle, medial conjunctiva and lower eyelid decreased significantly in all 11 patients treated with methylprednisolone pulse therapy, the authors reported.

There was a significant positive correlation between temperature variation and change in clinical activity score (P = .000), they noted.

The study is published in the January issue of Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.