Comparison of two different regimens of intravenous methylprednisolone for patients with moderate to severe and active Graves' ophthalmopathy : a prospective, randomized controlled trial

[Abstract.] The intravenous methylprednisolone (iv MP) strategy for Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) and evaluation of its activity against the disease warrants further exploration. A prospective randomized controlled trial for 3 months was performed in a tertiary referral teaching hospital to compare the efficacy and safety of two different regimens of iv MP, and determine the value of clinical activity score (CAS) and T2 relaxation time (T2RTs) and areas of extraocular muscles (EOMs) by magnetic resonance imaging for diagnosis of active GO. Forty patients with moderate to severe GO and CAS >= 3 or 1 0.05). The maximum T2RTs and areas significantly decreased at the end of intervention in both groups (p