What is a Rainbow Brow?

In a presentation at ARVO 2021, Emery Jamerson, MD, described “Rainbow Brow”- a novel physical exam finding in patients with thyroid eye disease (TED). Eyes with Rainbow Brow have a statistically significant difference in eyebrow curvature than eyes with TED without it.

Researchers examined 271 eyebrows of patients with TED and 71 eyebrows of control subjects. Curvature of the eyebrow was assessed and analyzed. In 42% of patients with TED, Rainbow Brow was found; 13% had unilateral appearance of Rainbow Brow.

Patients >50 years of age and those with the presence of brow fat expansion were at increased odds of having Rainbow Brow, with brow fat expansion a statistically significant contributing factor for Rainbow Brow appearance.

Reference
Jamerson E, Yang C, Tran AQ, et al. The Rainbow Brow in thyroid eye disease. Presented at: ARVO 2021.