title: Association between thyroid autoimmune dysfunction and non-thyroid autoimmune diseases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence of the association between thyroid autoimmune dysfunction in patients with and without Graves orbitopathy and non-thyroid autoimmune diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective review of the medical records of 254 consecutive patients with thyroid autoimmune disease with (n = 150) and without (n = 104) orbitopathy who had been followed at the same institution by ophthalmologists and general clinicians. All medical records contained information on any systemic diseases of the patients and a detailed description of their eye examinations. The mean follow-up period was 5.25 +/- 4.67 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Non-thyroid autoimmune diseases were detected in 24 (9.4%) patients. Type 1 diabetes was the most prevalent non-thyroid autoimmune disease diagnosed in the patients without orbitopathy (7 patients, 6.7%). For the patients with orbitopathy, vitiligo was the most prevalent condition, affecting 6 patients (4%). Other diseases including systemic sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, myasthenia gravis, Sjögren syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis were seen in a few patients in both groups. The time intervals between the diagnoses of the orbitopathy and the non-thyroid autoimmune disease were highly variable, ranging from none (concomitance of the 2 conditions) to decades.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present data show that several non-thyroid autoimmune diseases may be associated with thyroid autoimmune dysfunction. Patients with Graves disease without orbitopathy are likely to develop polyglandular syndrome due to the occurrence of type 1 diabetes. Patients with Graves orbitopathy should be screened for other autoimmune conditions, especially vitiligo.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Department of Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, and Head-Neck Surgery, Brazil. aavecruz@fmrp.usp.br
authors.forename: Antonio Augusto Velasco
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: Patrícia Mitiko Santello
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Akaishi
authors.forename: Márcia Abelin
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: Sheila A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: de Paula
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D049970:Graves Ophthalmopathy / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies