title: Bilateral eyelid edema: cutis laxa or blepharochalasis?
abstract: A 59-year-old woman with massive bilateral edema of the upper and lower eyelids is presented. The edema occurred suddenly and without provocation. No cause could be identified despite a multitude of examinations. Initially the patient was diagnosed as having blepharochalasis, but later skin biopsy suggested an acquired form of cutis laxa. Most likely the cutis laxa was a result of angio-edema. Pharmacological treatment was not successful, but surgical intervention provided an acceptable result. The differential diagnosis of periorbital edema is discussed with special attention to cutis laxa, angio-edema, and blepharochalasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Braakenburg
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Nicolai
mesh_terms: D000799:Angioedema / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D003483:Cutis Laxa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005141:Eyelid Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged