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Why does hyperthyroidism cause exophthalmos?
The occurrence of endocrine exophthalmos caused by hyperthyroidism is mainly related to autoimmune. At the same time, autoimmune damage of thyroid will also produce autoantibodies against eye tissues. Antibodies against eye tissues can cause damage to eye tissues. The main pathological changes of eye tissue are: (1) edema of fat and connective tissue in the posterior space of eyeball and infiltration of inflammatory cells such as lymphocytes, plasma cells, macrophages and mast cells, which indicates that the volume of these soft tissues increases, thus causing the intraocular pressure to rise and the eyeball to protrude outward. (2) Inflammatory changes occurred in the eye muscles, including lymphocyte infiltration, edema, muscle fiber breakage and necrosis. The volume of eye muscles increased obviously, especially in acute phase, and exophthalmos also appeared. With the development of the disease, eye muscle fibers proliferate, muscles become stiff, and contractility is weakened or even completely lost.