Physiological correction of mild to moderate congenital blepharoptosis: A retrospective cohort study involving 97 Eastern Asian patients.

BACKGROUND: Conventional blepharoptosis repair methods distort the normal anatomy of levator aponeurosis and often cause a visible depressed scar in the upper eyelid.

METHODS: The levator aponeurosis was dissected as a flap from the pretarsal tissue in mono-eyelid Asian patients who had mild to moderate congenital blepharoptosis. The flap base was advanced and repositioned on the tarsus. The margin of the distal flap was interposed and fused with orbicularis oculi muscles. Postoperative evaluation included ptosis correction, symmetry, and overall cosmetic outcomes.

RESULTS: A total of 162 eyes on 97 patients were corrected using our method. Follow-up time ranged from 8 to 24 months (mean 12.4). In mild ptosis eyelids, out of 58 eyelids, 36.2% (21 eyelids), 56.9% (33), and 6.9% (4) required adequate correction, normal correction, and undercorrection, respectively, whereas in moderate ptosis, the results were 34.6% (36 eyelids), 53.9% (56), and 11.5% (12), respectively. For symmetry, 58.8% (57 cases), 32.0% (31), and 9.2% (9) resulted in good, fair, and poor outcomes, respectively. For cosmetic outcomes, 82.8% (48 eyelids), 15.5% (9), and 1.7% (1) of mild ptosis cases achieved good, moderate, and poor results in mild ptosis cases, whereas the results were 77.9% (81 eyes), 20.2% (21), and 1.9% (2), respectively, in moderate ptosis cases. The only complication among all cases was postoperative swelling.

CONCLUSIONS: We presented a new blepharoplasty for ptosis repair that allows both satisfactory ptosis correction and cosmetic outcomes in mild to moderate congenital blepharoptosis.