Commonly used eye disease treatment ineffective

The study was the first National Health Service-led clinical trial for TED – also called Graves’ orbitopathy – and was conducted across 11 hospitals and led by researchers at the Universities of Bristol and Cardiff, together with Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.However, while radiotherapy was found to be ineffective, patients who were able to tolerate antiproliferative immunosuppresive medicines in combination with steroids experienced a reduction in severity of the disease.“Combined immunosuppression and radiotherapy in thyroid eye disease (CIRTED) is the only multi-centre UK trial to have been conducted into this disfiguring and visually disabling condition,” Bristol Medical School consultant senior lecturer Dr Richard Lee said.“Our research was jointly published with the MINGO trial, which both support the use of antiproliferative immunosuppressive drugs in patients with TED.”