title: Restoring palpebral fissure shape after previous lower blepharoplasty.
abstract: The youthful palpebral fissure can be described as long and narrow. Both the aging process and transcutaneous lower blepharoplasty can cause descent of the lower lid margin and medial migration of the lateral canthus, resulting in a rounding of the palpebral fissure. This article presents a technique to correct significant postsurgical lower lid malposition and palpebral fissure distortion without the use of outer or inner lamellar grafts. In overview, subperiosteal dissection frees scarred lid structures and cheek soft tissues, creating a continuous composite flap. Elevation of the cheek soft tissues recruits deficient outer lamellae and allows the sub-orbicularis oculi fat to be positioned between the orbital rim and scarred lid structures, filling this space and helping to support the repositioned lid margin. Titanium screws placed in the lateral orbit provide a point for secure fixation of elevated cheek tissues. Transosseous wire fixation securely repositions the lateral canthus. This procedure not only restores lower lid position and the vertical height of the palpebral fissure, but it also restores the palpebral fissure's horizontal length and the lateral canthal angle. It has been effective in correcting palpebral fissure distortion after lower blepharoplasty in 15 patients during a 6-year period.
authors.affiliation: Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114, USA. myaremchuk@partners.org
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Yaremchuk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019882:Blepharoplasty / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D005143:Eyelids / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012086:Reoperation