Author(s): Balázs Cs* and Korányi K
Prospective controlled study was designed for comparing the influence of methimazole (MMI) alone (control group) and MMI+ pentoxifylline (PTX) with respect to grades of thyroid associated orbitopathy (TAO). Control group of patients consisted of 112 patients with hyperthyroidism (mean aged 44.0+/-12.4 yr, 83 female and 29 male). PTX treated group of 112 (mean aged 47.7 +/-10.2 yr, 83 female and 29 male) hyperthyroid patients were treated with MMI+ PTX. At the onset of study there was no remarkable differences between control and PTX treated groups. After six and twelve month observation period the manifestation of TAO with moderate and severe forms were significantly lower in PTX treated patients. Various risk factors were analyzed in both groups. Smoking by itself without genetic factors greatly increased the risk of TAO (OR: 7.1: CI 95% 9.3-5.4). If the smoking habit was associated genetic background, the manifestation of TAO significantly increased (OR: 9.2 CI 95%, 12.1 to 6.9, p< 0.0001). PTX therapy had a beneficial preventive effect on manifestation of eye symptoms and decreased the number of patients both in smokers with and without genetic susceptibility (OR: 2.62 CI 95%, 1.5-3.7, p
