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| Thyroid eye disease |
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| The thyroid gland, located in the neck, produces thyroid
hormone that helps to regulate our metabolism. Sometimes this gland
can become over or under active, due to an imbalance of the body's
immune system. It can affect the eyes in three ways: |
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Swelling of the fatty tissue surrounding the
eyes and the muscles that move the eye, causing the eyes to
protrude forwards (proptosis). In severe cases, the clear covering
of the eye (the cornea) may ulcerate, or the optic nerve may
be compressed resulting in loss of vision. |
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Swollen muscles may not be able to move the eyes
properly, causing double vision. |
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Upper eyelids may become retracted, causing a
staring appearance. |
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The thyroid function must be monitored and appropriately treated by
an endocrinologist. The eye disease may or may not settle after the
thyroid function is normalized. The main priority is to treat any
sight threatening disease. Then there are a variety of treatments
which can be undertaken by an eyelid specialist to treat the cosmetic deformity
caused by thyroid disease. This may include orbital decompression
surgery to reposition the protruded eyeballs back into the eye sockets,
eye muscle (strabismus) surgery to correct double vision and eyelid
surgery for treating the raised eyelids and the swelling.
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| These ladies have
the classical staring appearance of thyroid eye disease secondary
to upper eyelid retraction |
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| After upper eyelid
lowering surgery, a normal appearance is restored. |
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Credentials
