Thyroid Eye Disease not Associated with the Risk for Uveitis: A 13-Year Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan

Purpose: To investigate whether patients with thyroid eye disease (TED) are at increased risk of uveitis. Methods: Data was collected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance system and included patients newly diagnosed with TED from 2000 to 2012. The endpoint of interest was a diagnosis of uveitis. Results: 444 patients with TED yielding1,776 matched comparisons revealed that patients with TED were found to have no significantly higher risk for developing uveitis. When comparison of TED and non-TED group was stratified by gender, and age, the association of TED and uveitis was also not significant. Conclusion: TED is characterized as an extraocular inflammatory disease and uveitis is an intraocular inflammation. In the largest study of TED in uveitis to date, our findings indicate that TED are not associated with (the risk for) uveitis. Different autoimmune mechanisms could explain the unique condition. The present data warrant further exploration that different auto antibodies may be involved in the immunopathology of TED and uveitis.