Orbital radiotherapy for adult thyroid eye disease

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2012

Publication History Publication Status: New Published Online: 11 JUL 2012 SEARCH ARTICLE TOOLS Abstract Abstract Background Thyroid eye disease is an autoimmune inflammatory condition of the orbital and periorbital tissues.
Orbital radiotherapy is an anti-inflammatory treatment used in the treatment of active thyroid eye disease.
Objectives To assess the effectiveness and adverse events of orbital radiotherapy in thyroid eye disease.
The effectiveness was dependent on the level of 'success' of the intervention predefined in each randomised controlled trial (RCT).
Search methods We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register) ( The Cochrane Library 2012, Issue 2), MEDLINE (January 1950 to March 2012), EMBASE (January 1980 to March 2012), Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences (LILACS) (January 1982 to March 2012), the meta Register of Controlled Trials ( m RCT) ( ), ClinicalTrials.gov ( ) and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) ( ).
We screened reference lists of reports of included studies, other reviews and book chapters to find additional trials.
We contacted trial investigators and experts in the field to identify additionally published studies.
Selection criteria We included RCTs of orbital radiotherapy versus sham radiotherapy or other interventions enrolling adults, with a minimum of three months' follow-up and an endpoint of two years or less post treatment.
Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data.
Main results We obtained full-text copies of nine potential studies and included five trials with a total of 244 participants in this review.
Orbital radiotherapy was compared to sham radiotherapy in two studies and to glucocorticoids in three studies, as a monotherapy or combination therapy.