Cyclosporin improves Graves' ophthalmopathy

Abstract

Cyclosporin given to two patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy produced a rapid objective improvement in both, including restoration of ocular-muscle function and visual acuity, improvement in exophthalmos, and reduction in orbital muscle swelling judged by computed tomographic scan. Thyroid autoantibody levels fell with treatment, and T-cell subset abnormalities returned towards normal. In one patient an absent thyrotropin response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone became normal after treatment. These results suggest that cyclospirin treatment should be considered in patients with the congestive ophthalmopathy of Graves' disease.