Gross digital clubbing and exophthalmic ophthalmoplegia in thyroid disorders

Triad of exophthalmos, pretibial myxedema, and acropachy in a patient with Graves' disease

Graves' disease is an autoimmune disorder of the thyroid gland with characteristic peripheral manifestations. The most common clinical findings include ophthalmopathy in 30% of patients, dermopathy (pretibial myxedema) in 4% of patients, and thyroid acropachy in 1% of patients. The triad of exophthalmos, pretibial myxedema, and acropachy occurs in less than 1% of patients. We present a case of Graves' disease with the clinical triad of eye disease, dermopathy, and acropachy.

Exophthalmos, pretibial myxedema, osteoarthropathy syndrome associated with papillary fibroelastoma in the left ventricle

EMO syndrome, a rare complication of Graves' disease, exhibits exophthalmos, pretibial myxedema, and osteoarthropathy. The presence of functional thyrotropin receptors (TSHR) in adipocytes and osteoblasts, both of which we have recently observed, may be related to these extrathyroidal manifestations of Graves' disease. In addition, the expression of TSHR in the heart has recently been reported. We describe here a patient with Graves' disease exhibiting EMO syndrome with a papillary fibroelastoma in the left ventricle. Pathological examinations showed that the fibroelastoma contained Alcian blue-stained mucinous materials that were also observed in the subcutaneous tissue of pretibial myxedema.