Abstract
Purpose::
Prolonged use of hard contact lenses is widely accepted as a cause of acquired blepharoptosis; however, there have been no studies to date that focus exclusively on the role that soft lenses play in acquired ptosis in a young population. It is our hypothesis that because a growing number of individuals favor soft contact lenses these lenses now account for the majority of contact lens-induced ptosis in young patients. The aim of this study is to investigate the etiology of acquired ptosis in the young population with specific attention to the role of soft contact lens use.
Methods::
This is a retrospective study of 122 consecutive patients presenting to a single neuro-ophthalmologist with acquired ptosis over a four-year period. Potential factors responsible for acquired ptosis were investigated in patients under the age of 35 with specific attention directed to history and duration of soft contact lens wear.
Results::
There were 122 patients with an age range of 1 to 91 years. 37 of these patients (31%) were under the age of 35. Of these, soft contact lens use was the only identifiable cause in 10 patients (27%). The most common cause of acquired ptosis in patients under 35 was found to be ptosis secondary to soft contact lens use (27%), followed by myasthenia gravis (16%).
Conclusions::
Soft contact lens use was found to be an important cause of acquired ptosis in young patients. Mechanisms of development of ptosis secondary to soft contact lens use are likely similar to hard contact lens use and include the regular manipulation of the upper eyelid during daily contact lens insertion and removal resulting in levator disinsertion.