title: Rigid nylon foil-anchored polytetrafluoroetyhlene (Gore-Tex) sheet stenting for conjunctival fornix reconstruction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe an operative technique that deepens foreshortened conjunctival fornices by providing a scaffold for epithelialization that opposes contractile forces during wound healing.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective interventional case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen patients with anophthalmic sockets containing foreshortened conjunctival fornices.
  
  
  METHODS
  Conjunctival fornices was reconstructed with stents of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) sheet draped over rigid, 0.8-mm thick-nylon strips that were anchored to the orbital rim. Preoperative and postoperative symptoms, prosthesis retention, fornix depth, and lagophthalmos were assessed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prosthesis retention, fornix depth, and lagophthalmos.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 17 patients had preoperative inability to retain their prosthesis. After postoperative follow-up of 47+/-43 months, retention was improved in all patients and was entirely satisfactory in 15 (88%) patients. After reconstruction, the repaired fornix was deep in 7 (41%) patients, adequate to retain a prosthesis in 9 (53%), and shallow in 1 (6%). Lagophthalmos improved in 15 (88%) patients and remained unchanged in 2 (12%). The superior fornix was reconstructed concurrently with the inferior fornix in 6 patients. In these patients, the superior fornix improved to deep (3 patients; 50%) or adequate (2; 33%). In 1 (17%) patient, it remained shallow.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rigid, nylon foil-anchored e-PTFE stenting opposes postoperative contracture, improving prosthesis retention, and lagophthalmos. It does not require an additional surgical site for graft harvesting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, W.K. Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105, USA.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Demirci
authors.forename: Susan G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Elner
authors.forename: Victor M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Elner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000601:surgery*; D015353:Eye Enucleation; D017234:Eye Evisceration; D005141:Eyelid Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009757:Nylons; D020273:Orbital Implants; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015607:Stents; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D009757:Nylons; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene