Thyroid eye disease most prevalent in African American, white patients
Researchers found the highest prevalence of thyroid eye disease in African American and white patients in an evaluation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology IRIS Registry.
“New findings include racial variation with a younger age in Asians, Hispanics and African Americans compared with Caucasian patients, as well a normal distribution of age rather than the classically described bimodal distribution,” Sathyadeepak Ramesh, MD, said at the virtual American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery annual meeting.
Ramesh and colleagues evaluated the epidemiological characteristics of thyroid eye disease in patients with at least two or more visits coded as the disease in the IRIS Registry.
The evaluation included 47.8 million patients, of which 44,307 patients had thyroid eye disease. African American, Asian and Hispanic patients tended to have an earlier peak age than white or overall patients, Ramesh said.
Female patients were three times more likely to have thyroid eye disease, although the proportion of vision-threatening manifestations was similar in male and female patients. Current and former smokers had a higher risk for thyroid eye disease compared with patients who never smoked. Also, a higher relative proportion of severe disease was found in older and male patients. These findings were consistent with prior literature, Ramesh said.
“Future directions include further analyzing the racial variation, identifying clinical characteristics and following treatment outcomes, and using these data to better predict and treat thyroid patients in our practices,” he said.
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Ramesh S. Prevalence and associated factors for thyroid eye disease in the AAO IRIS Registry. Presented at: American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery annual meeting; Nov. 20-22, 2020 (virtual meeting).
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