Five-Year Follow-Up of a 30-Month Trial of Stability of Silicone Band Frontalis Suspension for the Treatment of Severe Unilateral Upper Eyelid Ptosis in Infants

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the five-year stability of frontalis suspension of the upper eyelid with a silicone band for the treatment of severe congenital ptosis in infants.

Methods: Chart review of pediatric patients with a follow-up of five years after unilateral frontalis suspension with silicone band was reviewed. Margin-reflex distance (MRD) and corneal staining were measured at different follow-up visits. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance and t test for paired data.

Results: Twenty pediatric patients were included in this retrospective study. MRD was severely reduced before surgery in all cases: it ranged from -1 mm to -4 mm (-2.4 ± 0.8 mm). After surgery, MRD increased to 2.9 ± 0.3 mm, and then progressively decreased by 0.6 mm within the first three months (p < 0.001); a further reduction of 0.2 mm, occurring between three and 12 months after surgery, was not statistically significant (p < 0.001). Between the 12-month and the five-year follow-up visits (one visit every six months), no changes in MRD were found for any patient. After the five-years visit, no substantial changes were recorded in 18 patients (90%); in two patients, a second surgery to improve the deterioration was necessary. Corneal staining, which was present in five patients (25%) during the first two postoperative weeks, disappeared over five years of follow-up.

Conclusions: During the five-year follow-up of this retrospective study, the frontalis suspension with a silicone band proved to be a stable procedure. After 30 months from the first observation, MRD values were stable, except for two patients that underwent a second surgery to stabilize the worsening ptosis.

Keywords: Blepharoptosis; congenital ptosis; frontalis suspension; marginal reflex distance (MRD); silicone band.