Effect of upper eyelid surgery on corneal topography.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of different upper eyelid procedures on corneal topography.

METHODS: Eighty-two eyes of 43 patients with various degrees of dermatochalasis or ptosis underwent computed corneal topography before surgery and at 3 months after surgery. Patients were divided into groups depending on the extent of surgery. In addition, the thickness of the central cornea was correlated with the change in astigmatism.

RESULTS: There were mean changes in total astigmatism of 0.25 diopter (D) after ptosis surgery (P = .02) and 0.21 D after blepharoplasty with reduction of large fat pads (P = .04) compared with 0.09 D in patients after skin-only blepharoplasty. In addition, there was a correlation between corneal thickness and change in astigmatism of more than 0.2 cylinders after ptosis surgery (P < .05). Postoperative astigmatic axis changes were not systematic.

CONCLUSIONS: We found a statistically significant correlation between the severity of upper eyelid abnormality and topographical corneal changes after surgery. These findings emphasize the importance of advising patients, especially those with ptosis and severe dermatochalasis, that upper eyelid repositioning procedures may induce vision changes.