Immunological Aspects of Graves’ Ophthalmopathy

Figure 1

Pathogenesis of Graves’ disease (GD) and Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO). GD is an autoimmune disease in which antibodies stimulate the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones leading to hyperthyroidism. One of the most common signs and symptoms is enlargement of the thyroid gland (goiter) while GO is the most frequent extrathyroidal involvement of GD. Inflammation and infiltration extraocular tissues result in edema and fibrosis of these tissues.