1. What are the signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism? General: Heat intolerance, perspiration, flushing, tremor, sleep disturbance, or hair loss. Psychological: Nervousness, emotional lability, anxiety, aggressiveness, or delusions. Cardiovascular: Palpitations, tachycardia, or supraventricular dysrhythmias. Respiratory: Breathlessness or hoarseness. Gastrointestinal: Increased appetite, weigh...

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy and safety of combined orbital irradiation and systemic steroids in the management of moderate-to-severe Graves' ophthalmopathy. DESIGN Single-blind randomised prospective study. SETTING Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS Sixteen patients with active moderate-to-severe Graves' ophthalmopathy who were randomly assigned to steroid therapy (ST group) or c...

INTRODUCTION    Graves ophthalmopathy (GO) is an autoimmune disease associated with Graves disease. Its treatment is largely dependent on the severity and activity of ocular lesions. Particular attention should be given to radioiodine (RAI) therapy. Although its use is a valuable therapeutic option for hyperthyroidism, it may be followed by worsening of GO.  OBJECTIVES    The aim of the present...

Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is considered to be an organ-specific autoimmune disease. However, the pathogenesis of GO is incompletely understood at the present time. To clarify the immunological differences between newly diagnosed GO and Graves' disease (GD) without ophthalmopathy or healthy controls (HC), we examined T-cell profile and the Th1/Th2 profile cell balance in GO (n=20), GD (n=20) a...

Graves’ disease (GD) is an autoimmune thyroid disorder (AITD) with aberrant antibody production resulting in hyperthyroidism [1]. It is characterized by T cell and B cell reactivity to the thyrotropin (thyroid stimulating hormone; TSH) receptor (TSHR) located on the endothelial surface of thyroid follicular cells, and the presence of abundant serum antibodies against TSHR (TRAb) is used as a sp...

Exophthalmos is typically associated with Graves' ophthalmopathy. Although originally described by Harvey Cushing, exophthalmos is an underappreciated sign of Cushing's syndrome. We present a case of a 38-year-old female who presented with severe bilateral proptosis and was subsequently diagnosed with Cushings disease. We discuss the possible mechanisms causing exophthalmos in patients with eit...

The treatment of a patient with euthyroid Graves' ophthalmopathy is described. A poor response was obtained from large doses of prednisone whereas a combination of orbital irradiation and low dose cyclophosphamide induced a dramatic resolution. As there is no fully satisfactory treatment for this condition, this combined therapy deserves further investigation.