Objective:

To investigate corneal changes in patients with inactive thyroid eye disease (TED) using advanced imaging techniques.

Key Findings:

• Significant central corneal stromal thinning observed in TED eyes compared to controls.
• No significant differences in corneal epithelial thickness between TED and control groups.
• Conventional corneal topographic indices remained within normal limits, indicating preserved anterior corneal shape.

Interpretation:

The study highlights that stromal thinning is the primary structural alteration in inactive TED, suggesting a need for layer-specific assessments in clinical practice.

Limitations:

• Only inactive TED cases were included; changes in active disease remain unknown.
• The underlying mechanism for stromal thinning is not fully understood.

Conclusion:

Layer-specific corneal assessment is crucial in TED, as stromal thinning may affect clinical decisions regarding refractive surgery and biomechanical stability.