The ophthalmopathy of Graves' disease

Fortunately, most patients with thyroid-related eye disease have mild ocular involvement that spontaneously involutes. Less than 5% of patients with hyperthyroidism will develop sufficiently severe ocular abnormalities that will require surgical intervention. Most patients with thyroid eye findings should be symptomatically managed. Some will require use of either topical drops or oral steroids to alleviate their eye problems. In approximately one half of those patients who present acutely with severe thyroid orbital finding, nonsurgical therapies will be sufficient to control their eye disease. In the other half, eventually multiple surgical procedures may be required, and as discussed previously, the timing and sequence of those procedures are crucial to achieve optimal results.