Endocrine Abstracts

Background: TAO is a rare disease, seriously involving 5% of patients with autoimmune thyroid disease. The clinical presentation may be difficult to distinguish from other orbital conditions.Case 1: A 63-year-old woman was admitted to the Neurology Service for worsening diplopia over the previous six months, with a working diagnosis of myasthenia gravis or multiple sclerosis. The Endocrine Service was consulted because of a long history of Hashimoto&#146...

It has been reported recently that selenium (SE) administration over a 6-month period significantly improved the eye involvement in patients with mild GO.Aim: To investigate SE levels in such patients and find out if they differ from controls, finding which might explain the beneficial effect of SE in such patients.Patients: One hundred and four patients (82F) mean age 47.88±827 (S.D.) (range 32–65) with mi...

Introduction: The pathogenesis of Graves’ disease (GD) and Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) is not completely understood. On the other hand, vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms have been associated with susceptibility to a variety of chronic autoimmune diseases. The primary aim of this study was to synthesize the best available evidence regarding the association between VDR gene polymorphisms and risk of GD. Secondary aim was to search for their association with GO.<...

Introduction: Although Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) is common in the course of Graves’ disease, dysthyroid optic neuropathy and corneal breakdown are rare. We describe two cases of severe GO treated successfully with rituximab.Case 1: A 50-year-old female smoker with Graves’disease, presented with disfiguring eyelid edema, exophthalmos and diplopia, preserved visual acuity and clinical activity score (CAS) ≥ 5. She received pulsed medrox...

Introduction: Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO) is common in the course of Graves’ disease, but optic neuropathy is present in only ~5% of patients with GO. We present a case of recalcitrant Graves’ orbitopathy with late development of neuropathy, satisfactorily treated with rituximab.Case report: A 50-year-old female smoker was referred to our department for further management of Graves’ disease with associated GO. She complained of worsen...