Thyroid Eye Disease

Dysfunction of the thyroid gland affects the whole body including eyes. Protrusion of the eyes(proptosis), lid retraction and double vision are the common ocular side effects. Treatment may be medical in the form of steroids administration or surgical. Orbital decompression surgery is carried out when optic nerve function is compromised or in cases when the proptosis is cosmetically unacceptable to the patient. This may be followed by lid retraction surgery to place the lid in its normal position.