Lax eyelid syndrome or 'progeria' of eyelid tissues.
OBJECTIVE
The lax eyelid syndrome was described by Van den Bosch and Lemij as an uncommon disorder seen in non-obese elderly people and characterised by chronic ocular surface irritation symptoms and a "floppy upper eyelid". The authors present some new features of the lax eyelid syndrome.


METHODS
The authors report five patients, belonging to a younger age group, who presented with premature laxity of all the eyelid tissues. This caused medial and lateral canthal dystopia and eyelid malposition including ptosis, entropion and ectropion. Initial surgical correction was often followed by recurrence after some time.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors highlight the differences between lax eyelid syndrome, cutis laxa, floppy eyelid syndrome and the blepharochalasis syndrome and suggest that lax eyelid syndrome can be thought of as "progeria" or premature ageing of the eyelid tissues to distinguish it clearly from these other conditions.
Shah-Desai
Sabrina
S
Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK.
Sandy
Charles
C
Collin
Richard
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003483:Cutis Laxa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D005141:Eyelid Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011371:Progeria / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013577:Syndrome; D016896:Treatment Outcome