Abstract
Purpose :
Blepharoplastic surgery may contribute to cosmetic, objective symptoms such as ocular surface conditions, and subjective symptoms. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of levator muscle tucking (LMT) surgery on dry eye symptoms, ocular surface scores, and subjective happiness state in patients with blepharoptosis.
Methods :
Thirty-six patients were enrolled in the study. Seventy-two underwent upper eyelid skin excision with LMT. Patients completed the Subjective Happiness Questionnaire (SHQ) and underwent ocular surface evaluation consisting of Schirmer's test and tear break-up time (BUT) during the preoperative consultation and 3 months postoperatively.
Results :
Improvements in ocular surface evaluation tests were observed in all patients 3 months postoperatively. There were significant differences in the pre- and postoperative scores for Schirmer’s test (3.9 ± 2.8 vs. 4.6 ± 2.9 mm, respectively; P<0.05, unpaired t-test) and BUT (3.8 ± 1.5 vs. 4.4 ± 1.3 s, respectively; P<0.01, unpaired t-test). Although there was no significant change in the SHQ score before and after surgery for the entire cohort (4.6 ± 0.7 vs. 4.6 ± 0.6, respectively; P=0.19), the SHQ score did improve in patients without ocular comorbidities except blepharoptosis after surgery (4.46 ± 0.66 vs 4.60 ± 0.65; P<0.03).
Conclusions :
LMT improved objective symptoms of dry eye. Subjective happiness was not improved by LMT alone. This outcome was not dependent on blepharoptosis, but on whether patients had ocular comorbidities.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.