What causes Graves' ophthalmopathy is still a mystery, but the disease process results from
a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Genes such as those encoding for
human leukocyte antigens, cytokines or putative target antigens may determine a patient's
susceptibility to the disease and the disease severity, but environmental factors may
determine its course. During the last 5 years, significant progress has been made towards a
more in-depth understanding of the initiating events of the orbital immune process which …