Abstract
Purpose: :
Floppy eyelid syndrome (FES) is seen more frequently in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA, 25.8%) than in the general population (15.8%). In particular, these patients manifest various eyelash pathologies including lash ptosis, curled lashes and easily distensible eyelids. We hypothesize that seeing curled lashes in patients with FES would be pathognomonic for OSA, and thus a sleep evaluation should be ordered.
Methods: :
This is a retrospective chart review of patients at a private oculoplastic surgeon’s office from 2007-2010. IRB approval was obtained for the RI Hospital IRB committee. Inclusion criteria was the diagnosis of FES and exclusion criteria were co-existing eyelid pathology affecting eyelid tone such as cranial nerve 7 palsy or blepharospasm. The statistical analysis utilized the chi-squared method.
Results: :
Forty-three percent of patients with FES had curled lashes. Sixty percent of patients had OSA. Patients with curled lashes were more likely (53%) to have OSA. The relative risk of OSA without curled eyelashes was 0.44. The relative risk of OSA given curled eyelashes was 1.75, P=0.083.
Conclusions: :
A trend approaching statistical significance was found between curled lashes in patients with FES and OSA. Further study will investigate the relationship between the sleep index and curled lashes in patients with OSA.