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Study: orbital radiotherapy did not improve Graves' ophthalmopathy

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — Orbital radiotherapy demonstrated no benefit in patients with mild or moderately severe Graves' ophthalmopathy in a study conducted here. The study appears in the September issue of Ophthalmology.

"The effectiveness of this treatment, which has been widely used for 80 years, has never been convincingly established," said Colum Gorman, MD, PhD, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist and specialist in Graves' disease. "Because this treatment is still in wide use, is expensive and is not without risk, it is our belief that it should not be used for patients with mild or moderately severe ophthalmopathy."

The randomized, double-blind study showed there was no difference between treated and untreated eyes after either 3 months or 6 months. The researchers then studied whether treatment earlier or 6 months later in the course of the disease made a difference, and again they found no correlation.

The study excluded patients with very severe ophthalmopathy that has damaged the optic nerve.