Medial rectus muscle incarceration in pediatric medial orbital wall trapdoor fractures.

PURPOSE: We describe two cases of orbital trapdoor fractures with medial rectus muscle incarceration. METHODS: Small interventional case series. RESULTS: This is a retrospective university based report of two healthy males (11 and 14 years old) who developed diplopia following blunt orbital trauma. Both patients had decreased horizontal ocular motility of the involved eye with minimal additional evidence of trauma. Computed tomography (CT) demonstrated no significant bony displacement; however, the left medial rectus muscle was located within the ethmoid sinus in the first and had an abnormal size and shape in the second case. In both cases, during urgent surgical repair, the incarcerated medial rectus muscle was gently released from linear non-displaced medial wall fractures and ocular motility normalized postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: In pediatric patients sustaining blunt orbital trauma, medial rectus incarceration should be considered and managed accordingly.

Destructive eyelid lesions in sarcoidosis.

PURPOSE: To report the clinical and histopathologic findings of a patient with sarcoidosis causing bilateral destruction of the lower eyelids. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: Bilateral destructive lower eyelid lesions and cicatricial entropion developed in a 43-year-old man with systemic sarcoidosis. Histopathology was consistent with sarcoid granulomas. Disease progression was arrested with systemic prednisone and methotrexate before eyelid reconstruction was performed. CONCLUSIONS: Sarcoidosis very rarely can cause destruction of full-thickness eyelid architecture. Active inflammation should be controlled before reconstruction.

Unsuspected recurrent pituitary adenoma presenting as an orbital mass.

PURPOSE: Orbital invasion of pituitary tumors is rare and usually accompanied by optic nerve head pallor and visual loss. We describe a case of unilateral massive orbital invasion by a recurrent pituitary tumor with preserved visual acuity and normal optic nerve appearance. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: Progressive proptosis developed 15 years after transphenoidal removal of a pituitary tumor. Based on the radiological appearance and the clinical history, the patient was suspected to have a sphenoid wing meningioma secondary to previous radiation treatment. A combined neurosurgical and orbital approach was used to remove the intraorbital mass, which extended from the cranial cavity through the superior orbital fissure and the optic canal. Histopathologic examination demonstrated a recurrent nonsecreting pituitary adenoma. CONCLUSIONS: Orbital extension of a recurrent pituitary adenoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of progressive proptosis even in the absence of significant optic neuropathy.

Chronic eyelid lymphedema and acne rosacea. Report of two cases.

OBJECTIVE: The authors describe the clinical findings and surgical treatment of two patients affected by chronic eyelid lymphedema associated with facial acne rosacea. DESIGN: Two interventional case reports. METHODS AND INTERVENTION: The clinical diagnosis of acne rosacea was based on the physical examination and confirmed by the histopathologic findings obtained from biopsy of the involved tissue. Surgical treatment was required to address the disfiguring chronic eyelid lymphedema and to correct the resultant mechanical lower eyelid ectropion in both patients. RESULTS: Surgical debulking of the affected soft tissue resulted in very satisfactory cosmetic and functional improvement in both patients. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first series of cases of chronic eyelid lymphedema secondary to acne rosacea reported in the ophthalmic literature. Six similar cases have been described previously in the dermatologic literature; all of which had been treated medically without satisfactory results. Surgical debulking of the involved eyelids should be considered in patients affected by persistent symptomatic rosacea lymphedema.

Pediatric orbital floor fracture : direct extraocular muscle involvement.

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical presentation, operative findings, and postoperative results of a surgical series of isolated orbital floor fractures in children. DESIGN: Noncomparative, retrospective, consecutive case series. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-four patients (34 orbits) less than 18 years of age with isolated orbital floor fractures. Indications for surgery were severe limitation of extraocular ductions, 22 of 34; enophthalmos, 8 of 34: or both, 4 of 34. INTERVENTION: Surgical repair. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cause of fracture, symptoms, clinical signs, radiographic data, operative findings, postoperative results, and complications. RESULTS: Children older than 12 years of age were more likely to sustain an orbital floor fracture as a result of interpersonal violence than were children less than 12 years of age (P: = 0.020). Sixty-two percent of patients (21 of 34) exhibited pain with eye movements and/or nausea and vomiting. Most had a trapdoor type fracture (21 of 34). The inferior rectus muscle was entrapped in the orbital floor fracture in 69% (18 of 26) of patients with a severe limitation of ocular ductions. Preoperative nausea and vomiting were immediately relieved after surgery. The median time for improvement of preoperative duction deficits and diplopia was 4 days for patients receiving surgery within 7 days and 10.5 days for those undergoing surgery after 14 days (P: = 0.030). Resolution of duction deficits or diplopia was not dependent on time of surgery if performed within 1 month of injury. Loss of vision, worsening of motility, or implant complications did not occur. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients with isolated orbital floor fractures who had pain, nausea, vomiting, and severe limitation of extraocular motility often have direct entrapment of the inferior rectus muscle into the fracture site. Surgical repair rapidly relieved preoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting. For patients with severe limitation of ductions, early surgical repair within 7 days of injury resulted in more rapid improvement of ductions and diplopia than surgery performed later.

Atypical presentation of a dacryolith.

PURPOSE: To describe the clinical features and management of a patient with an extralacrimal dacryolith. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: A 43-year-old woman remarked at a routine eye examination that a small, firm mass located for several years on the right side of her nose had recently become slightly larger. The mass had remained firm and nontender during this enlargement. She explicitly denied having any past or current lacrimal outflow problems. Surgical excision disclosed a mass external to the lacrimal sac and duct, adherent to its lateral wall. The histopathologic features were consistent with a dacryolith surrounded by a chronic inflammatory reaction and no epithelial lining. CONCLUSION: We presume that the dacryolith must have formed within the lacrimal sac and then migrated laterally into the surrounding soft tissue.

Vertical lid split orbitotomy revisited.

PURPOSE: To report the results of anterior orbitotomy through a vertical transmarginal upper eyelid incision for gaining access to superonasal intraorbital lesions. METHODS: Retrospective case series of 13 patients presenting with superonasal intraorbital lesions. RESULTS: Vertical transmarginal upper eyelid incision allowed biopsy or removal of orbital lesions in all cases with satisfactory postoperative cosmesis and function. CONCLUSION: The vertical lid split orbitotomy, initially described for anterior orbital lesions, also is useful for exposure and removal of deeper intraconal orbital masses.

Spontaneous resolution of upper eyelid retraction in thyroid orbitopathy.

This study was conducted to document in the literature case reports of spontaneous resolution of eyelid retraction in patients with thyroid orbitopathy. Two cases of thyroid orbitopathy associated with eyelid retraction were observed without surgical treatment. Spontaneous resolution of upper eyelid retraction occurred during an 8- to 12-month period.

The modified rhomboid transposition flap in periocular reconstruction.

The traditional rhomboid transposition flap has been widely used in reconstructive surgery. The authors have modified the original technique by eliminating the creation of the rhomboid defect and by directly transposing the flap into the original postexcisional defect. These changes allow maximum flexibility in flap design and minimize normal tissue loss. The authors retrospectively reviewed the charts of patients who underwent periocular reconstruction with flaps from 1990 through 1995. The authors selected those patients in whom the modified rhomboid flap was used. Functional and cosmetic results and complications were reviewed. Two hundred thirty-two patients were identified in whom 242 flaps were performed. The modified rhomboid flap was used in 101 patients (41.7%). Complications occurred in 23 patients (23%), 19 of whom (19%) were treated medically and four of whom (4%) required an additional surgical procedure. Cosmetic and functional results were classified as very good or excellent in 96 patients (96%). The use of a modified rhomboid flap in the reconstruction of the periocular area offers ample versatility in flap design and minimal normal tissue loss. Functional and cosmetic results are satisfactory in the vast majority of cases.

Hering's law and eyebrow position.

A patient with bilateral but asymmetrical brow ptosis is presented in whom the frontalis action on the relative position of the eyebrows could be demonstrated to obey Hering's law of equal innervation. The neurological basis for this finding is discussed, along with the implications for the surgical management of brow ptosis.

The role of enophthalmos in involutional entropion.

Relative enophthalmos is often cited as a causative factor in the development of involutional entropion. However, the association between enophthalmos and involutional entropion is largely anecdotal; no patient population study has been performed to determine if a causal relationship exists. This prospective clinical study compares exophthalmometric values in a population of patients with involutional entropion to an age- and sex-matched control group. Hertel exophthalmometric measurements were obtained on 56 patients with involutional entropion presenting over a 2-year period. Exophthalmometric measurements were also obtained in a group of 53 age- and sex-matched control patients presenting for evaluation and management of unrelated periocular disorders. Fifty-three patients presented with unilateral entropion and three patients presented with bilateral lower lid entropion. The mean of exophthalmometric measurements was within 16.0 mm in the entropion group and 16.15 mm in the control group. Eyes with involutional entropion are no more likely to have enophthalmos than is the uninvolved contralateral eye or normal eyes of an age- and sex-matched control population. Enophthalmos does not appear to play a role in the development of involutional entropion.

Criteria for selective management of the orbital rim and floor in zygomatic complex and midface fractures.

OBJECTIVE: To develop objective criteria with which to identify patients with zygomatic complex (ZMC) or midface fractures who require a surgical exploration and treatment of the orbital component of their fracture to prevent postoperative enophthalmos, diplopia, or malar depression. DESIGN: Nonrandomized, prospective management of facial trauma patients. SETTING: Urban, university referral center. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-seven patients with facial fractures (72 with ZMC fractures and 25 with midface fractures) who presented to the maxillofacial and oculoplastics trauma teams at the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, for management. INTERVENTION: The decision whether to include an orbital exploration as part of the management plan was made based on a specific set of physical and radiological criteria that are detailed in the text. OUTCOME MEASURE: Patients were evaluated postoperatively for possible complications related to the orbital and periorbital portions of their fractures. RESULTS: Thirty-four percent of the study patients (30% of the patients with ZMC fractures and 44% of the patients with midface fractures) underwent orbital rim exposure and orbital floor exploration as part of their fracture management. Sixt-six percent of these patients (70% of the patients with ZMC fractures and 56% of the patients with midface fractures) were managed without orbital exploration. Postoperatively, none of the patients who did not undergo exploration experienced diplopia or enophthalmos and only 1 patient had a residual malar depression. CONCLUSIONS: The criteria reported herein allow surgeons to identify the minority of patients with midfacial and ZMC fractures who require an orbital exploration for optimal fracture management. Orbital exploration, and its potential complications, can be avoided in the majority of patients with ZMC and midface fractures without significantly increasing the risk of morbidity related to the orbital component of their fractures.

Accuracy of clinical diagnosis of cutaneous eyelid lesions.

PURPOSE: Previous studies of cutaneous eyelid lesions have been retrospective using multiple contributing surgeons. The purpose of this study was to determine prospectively the accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of benign, premalignant, and malignant cutaneous eyelid lesions and to determine if all clinical diagnoses require histopathologic confirmation, or if an experienced clinician can reliably distinguish benign from malignant lesions on the basis of history and clinical examination alone. METHODS: This prospective study was conducted between January 1988 and January 1995. All patients presenting during this time with periocular cutaneous eyelid lesions were evaluated and a specific clinical diagnosis made in each case before biopsy and histopathologic evaluation. The lesions were categorized prospectively as benign, premalignant, or malignant, and histopathologic evaluation then correlated to determine the accuracy of the clinical diagnosis. Only patients who presented without previous biopsy were eligible for inclusion in the study. RESULTS: A biopsy was done on a total of 864 eyelid lesions during the 85 month study period. One hundred fifty-three lesions clinically were thought to represent malignancies. Of these, 140 (91.5%) were found to have malignant histopathologies. Nineteen lesions clinically were thought to represent premalignant processes. Histopathologic evaluation of these 19 lesions showed 16 to be actually premalignant, 1 to be a malignancy, and 2 to be benign. Six hundred ninety-two lesions clinically were thought to be benign. Of these, 13 (1.9%) proved on histopathologic evaluation to be malignant. These included 10 basal cell carcinomas, 1 squamous cell carcinoma, 1 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and 1 adenoid cystic carcinoma. Three (0.4%) of the 692 clinically benign lesions were found to be premalignant. The 13 missed malignancies were distributed among a number of different clinical diagnoses, including papilloma, epidermal inclusion cyst, melanocytic nevus, hydrocystoma, and trichoepithelioma. Of the 153 clinically malignant lesions, 6 lesions that clinically were highly suspicious for malignancy had initial benign histopathologic diagnoses. Rebiopsy results in all of these six subsequently confirmed the suspected malignant diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Malignant eyelid lesions may masquerade as a number of different clinically benign conditions. The authors conclude that all excised eyelid lesions should be submitted for histopathologic confirmation because it is not possible to obtain 100% accuracy in diagnosing eyelid lesions on clinical grounds alone. However, strong clinical suspicion of a malignancy is highly significant, and if initial histopathologic evaluation does not agree with the malignant clinical diagnosis, repeat biopsy should be performed.

"One-stitch" canalicular repair. A simplified approach for repair of canalicular laceration.

BACKGROUND: It has been widely believed that direct microsurgical re-anastomosis of the canalicular epithelium is necessary for satisfactory repair of canalicular lacerations. However, because repair is carried out in conjunction with placement of an indwelling silicone stent, this stent should keep the canalicular edges adequately approximate without the need for suturing. The authors report their results in repairing canalicular lacerations using a single, fine, horizontal, mattress suture to re-approximate the overlying pericanalicular orbicularis muscle and eliminate direct microsurgical re-anastomosis of the canalicular epithelium. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed the charts of 67 patients who underwent repair of lacerated canaliculi with one-stitch re-approximation of the overlying orbicularis muscle in conjunction with bicanalicular silicone tube intubation. Stents were left in place for 3 months postoperatively and then removed. Probing across the lacerated portion of the canaliculus was carried out at the time of stent removal to ensure patency. Dye disappearance testing with 2% fluorescein and irrigation through the canaliculus then was performed 6 weeks to 3 months after stent removal. RESULTS: Of the 67 patients, 59 were followed to stent removal. Probing with a 00 probe showed canalicular patency in all 59 patients. Irrigation resulted in reflux in two patients, indicating unrelated nasolacrimal duct obstruction. Of these 59 patients, 45 complied with scheduled follow-up 6 weeks to 3 months after stent removal. Dye disappearance testing using 2% fluorescein demonstrated delay in lacrimal outflow in 6 of the 45 patients. Only two patients had symptomatic epiphora, and in both patients there was an underlying nasolacrimal duct obstruction confirmed by irrigation. CONCLUSIONS: Simple re-approximation of the lacerated overlying soft tissue combined with bicanalicular silicone intubation proved highly successful in managing canalicular lacerations. Probing through the lacerated canaliculus demonstrated patency in 100% of the 59 patients followed to stent removal. Only 4% of patients had symptomatic epiphora postoperatively, and 13% demonstrated some delay in outflow with dye disappearance testing. This compares very favorably with previous reported series in which lacerated canaliculi were microsurgically re-anastomosed.