"Saddle" tailored upper eyelid island myocutaneous flap to repair full-thickness lower eyelid defects after melanoma excision.
OBJECTIVE
To perform an early melanoma diagnosis and to repair the full-thickness lower eyelid defect with an island upper eyelid myocutaneous flap tailored into a new shape.


METHODS
Two patients with pigmented lesion involving skin and tarsus of the lower eyelid were reported. Histologic examination, performed after diagnostic punch biopsy, confirmed the diagnosis of in situ melanomas in both cases. A full-thickness excision was done and a single pedicle island myocutaneous flap from the upper eyelid was performed. The flap was designed in a blepharoplastic manner and tunnelized to reach the lower eyelid defect. The flap was tailored into a "saddle" shape, doubled, and folded to restore both the internal and external eyelid walls in a single-stage procedure.


RESULTS
Good functional and aesthetic results were obtained with no complications. Interestingly enough, the tissue of the internal layer lost the features of skin epithelium due to metaplasia processes and appeared similar to the conjunctiva. After 3 years, no sign of melanoma recurrence was noted.


CONCLUSIONS
Early diagnosis was performed in both reported lower eyelid melanoma cases. For the reconstruction, a modified upper eyelid island myocutaneous flap tailored into a "saddle" shape was used, which had the advantages of being a single-stage procedure and avoiding mucosa grafts. The technique could also be used to repair full-thickness lower eyelid defects from other causes.
Borgognoni
Lorenzo
L
Plastic Surgery Unit, Regional Melanoma Referral Center, SM Annunziata Hospital, Tuscan Tumor Institute, Florence, Italy.
Sestini
Serena
S
Gerlini
Gianni
G
Brandani
Paola
P
Giannotti
Vanni
V
Gelli
Riccardo
R
Chiarugi
Cristina
C
D000368:Aged; D019882:Blepharoplasty / Q000379:methods*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005142:Eyelid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D013524:Surgical Flaps