Other causes of bilateral proptosis are osteopathies, endocrinal exophthalmos (thyrotoxicosis), and inflammatory conditions such as Mikulicz’s syndrome and late stage of cavernous sinus thrombosis. Causes of bilateral proptosisĭevelopmental anomalies of the skull as seen in craniofacial dysostosis leads to bilateral proptosis. Other common causes of unilateral proptosis are traumatic lesions, inflammatory lesions, cysts of orbit, tumors of the orbit, mucoceles of paranasal sinuses, circulatory disturbances, and vascular lesions. Proptosis is categorized into the following groups:īulging Eyes (exophthalmos) Causes Causes of unilateral proptosisĬongenital unilateral proptosis is seen in conditions such as dermoid cyst, orbital teratoma, and congenital cystic eyeball. Similarly, the elongation of eyeballs in high myopia gives the false appearance of bulging eyes. For instance, enophthalmos of one eye may cause apparent bulging of the other eye. There is no actual bulging of the eyeball in pseudoproptosis. When the volume of the orbit is decreased, the contents in the orbit are protruded anteriorly. Exophthalmos comprises proptosis and lid lag.

Some medical practitioners use the term “proptosis” if the protrusion of the eye globe is 18 millimeters (mm) or less while they use “exophthalmos” if the bulging of the eye is more than 18 mm. And, abnormal bulging of eyeballs in every other dysfunction is called proptosis. Bulging Eyes: Exophthalmos vs ProptosisĪbnormal protrusion of eyeballs in endocrine disorders especially in thyroid dysfunction is known as exophthalmos. Bulging eyes can have impacts on eyes ranging from dryness to vision loss.

One or both eyeballs protrude from the orbit due to space being occupied by either swelling of the extraocular muscles, fat, or tissues behind the eye. The word proptosis is derived from the Latin word propiptein ( pro-forward + piptein-to fall). Bulging eyes can be seen on both sides (bilateral proptosis) or just on one side (unilateral proptosis). It could indicate a serious medical condition. 7) Bulging Eyes (Exophthalmos) Treatment What is Exophthalmos or Proptosis?Īlso known as proptosis, exophthalmos is the medical term to indicate protruding eyeballs or bulging eyes.

Medical term for bulging eyeballs