Porous polyethylene orbital implant in the pediatric population.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the incidence of complications of primary insertion of porous polyethylene orbital implant in the pediatric population.


METHODS
Interventional case series.


METHODS
Prospective nonrandomized case series of 36 eyes of 36 patients under age 15 years who underwent primary placement of an anteriorly wrapped spherical porous polyethylene orbital implant from March 1998 to August 2002, with at least 17 months of follow-up.


RESULTS
The mean age at the time of surgery was 4.6 years. The histopathologic diagnoses after enucleation included intraocular tumor in 22 patients, phthisis bulbi in eight patients, microphthalmos in three patients, Coats disease in two patients, and ruptured traumatic globe in one patient. Twelve patients (33%) had prior ocular surgery. At the time of enucleation, all patients underwent primary placement of spherical porous polyethylene orbital implant anteriorly wrapped with homologous sclera in 30 patients (83%) and autologous sclera in six patients (17%). The spherical implant size was 16 mm in one patient (3%), 18 mm in 10 patients ( 28%), and 20 mm in 25 patients (69%). The prosthesis was fitted after a mean interval of 5 weeks. After a mean follow-up of 44 months (range, 17 to 68 months), there was one case of pyogenic granuloma (3%) and one case of implant exposure (3%). There were no cases of implant extrusion, superior sulcus syndrome, orbital cellulitis, or significant inflammatory response. No porous polyethylene orbital implant was drilled for peg placement.


CONCLUSIONS
Anteriorly wrapped primary porous polyethylene orbital implant in the pediatric population appears to be well tolerated with few complications.
Iordanidou
Vasiliki
V
Ocular Oncology Unit, Cliniques Universitaires St-Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, 10 Avenue Hippocrate, 1200 Brussels, Belgium.
De Potter
Patrick
P
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D015353:Eye Enucleation; D005260:Female; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000209:etiology; D005549:Foreign-Body Reaction / Q000209:etiology; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D020273:Orbital Implants; D020959:Polyethylene; D016062:Porosity; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation
D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D020959:Polyethylene