Author(s)

Mariela Carolina Santos Carballo¹, Bianca Paiva Cunha de Sá¹, Denise Rosso Tenório Wanderley Rocha¹, Alberto Krayyem Arbex^1,2

¹Division of Endocrinology, IPEMED Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil.
²Diabetology Department, Malteser Krankenhaus St. Franziskus-Hospital, Flensburg, Germany.

Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO), an autoimmune condition associated with Graves’ disease (GD), occurs at a prevalence of nearly 40% in patients diagnosed with GD. Ocular involvement is probably due to the presence of autoantibodies in the orbital tissues, regardless of the control state of thyroid hormones in individuals with GD, even during euthyroid or hypothyroid states, which are associated with thyroid hormone treatment. In addition to the immunological role present in the pathophysiology of GO, the genetic component, proteins and cytokines, minerals (e.g., selenium), and environmental factors (e.g., smoking) also contribute to its development and occurrence of clinical manifestations in varying degrees. Until now, the interaction of causal, intermediary, and triggering factors of GO is still unclear, so the purpose of this article is to review literature on the theme.

Ophthalmopathy, Graves Disease, Pathophysiology

Carballo, M. , de Sá, B. , Rocha, D. and Arbex, A. (2017) Pathophysiology of Graves’ Ophthalmopathy: A Literature Review. Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, 7, 77-87. doi: 10.4236/ojemd.2017.71008.