Perceived change in age after functional upper blepharoplasty.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the perceived age of patients before and after functional upper blepharoplasty. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of patients who underwent upper blepharoplasty by a single surgeon at an academic center. The inclusion criterion was having external photographs before and after blepharoplasty. Exclusion criteria included any other concurrent eyelid or facial surgery. Primary endpoint: perceived change in age after surgery as judged by the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS) surgeons. RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients (14 men, 53 women) were included. Mean pre-operative age was 66.9 years (range 37.8-89.4) and mean post-operative age was 67.4 years (range 38.6-89). The mean perceived age pre-operatively was 68.9 years, and the mean perceived age post-operatively was 67.1 years, a change of 1.8 years (p = 0.0001 by two-tailed paired T-test). Inter-rater reliability of the observers was measured by intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.77 for pre-operative and 0.75 for post-operative photos. The decreased perceived age was 1.9 years for women, 1.4 years for men, 0.3 years for Asians, 1.2 years for Hispanics, and 2.1 years for whites. DISCUSSION: Functional upper blepharoplasty by an experienced ASOPRS surgeon was shown to reduce the perceived age of a patient by an average of 1.8 years.

Eosinophilic Angiocentric Fibrosis of the Orbit: A Clinicopathologic Review of 6 Novel Cases With Review of the Literature.

PURPOSE: To describe 6 cases and review the current state of knowledge of eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis (EAF) involving the orbit. DESIGN: Retrospective clinicopathologic case series and review of the current literature METHODS: Clinical records and histopathologic data of orbit-involving EAF were gathered between 2004 and 2022 from a single academic institution. The patients' presenting clinical symptoms and signs, laboratory data, radiographic studies, and management documentation were collected. RESULTS: Retrospective review identified 6 novel cases, totaling 31 cases of EAF involving the orbit described as of this writing. Fourteen patients were male, and the average age of presentation was 49.8 years (range 25-78 years). Eighteen patients had concurrent sinonasal involvement, whereas 13 had primary orbital involvement. The median duration of symptoms prior to evaluation was 24 months, with nasal symptoms, proptosis, periorbital swelling, and pain being the most common presenting symptoms. The majority of patients underwent surgical debulking, as well as treatment with glucocorticoids and steroid-sparing agents, such as rituximab, with varied results. CONCLUSION: EAF involving the orbit is uncommon. The histopathologic findings include a perivascular, eosinophil-rich infiltrate and a pauci-inflammatory storiform type of fibrosis concentrated around small vessels. Orbital involvement usually results from local extension from adjacent sinuses, but primary orbital involvement has been described. Surgical debulking and immunosuppressive agents such as rituximab have been shown to stabilize disease.

Assessment of Infraorbital Hypesthesia Following Orbital Floor and Zygomaticomaxillary Complex Fractures Using a Novel Sensory Grading System.

PURPOSE: Introduction of a novel sensory grading system to assess the incidence and long-term recovery of infraorbital hypesthesia following orbital floor and inferior orbital rim fractures. METHODS: Patients who presented for evaluation of orbital floor and/or zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC) fractures between January 2015 and April 2016 were analyzed. Two-point subjective infraorbital sensory grading in 5 discrete anatomic areas was performed. Fractures were repaired based on traditional criteria; hypesthesia was not an indication for surgery. The sensory grading system was repeated a mean 21.7 months (range 18-28) after initial fracture. RESULTS: Sixty-two patients (mean 41.8 years) participated in the initial symptom grading, and 42 patients (67.7%) completed the 2-year follow-up. Overall, 20 of 42 patients (47.6%) had some infraorbital hypesthesia. There were fewer with isolated orbital floor fractures versus ZMC fractures (31.8% vs. 68.4%; p = 0.019). Two years postinjury, 9.1% and 40.0% with isolated floor and ZMC fractures, respectively, had persistent sensory disturbance (p = 0.0188). Of patients with sensory disturbance on presentation, 71.4% with isolated floor fractures and 38.5% with ZMC fractures experienced complete sensory recovery (p = 0.1596). Patients with isolated floor fractures had improved recovery after surgery (100% vs. 33.3% recovery; p = 0.0410). Patients with ZMC fractures showed no difference in sensory prognosis between those repaired and observed. CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot study, isolated orbital floor fractures carried a good infraorbital sensory prognosis, further improved by surgical repair. Zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures portended a worse long-term sensory outcome, unaffected by management strategy. This study validates the novel sensory grading system in post-fracture analysis.

Orbital exenteration: The 10-year Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary experience.

The authors report their experience with orbital exenteration surgery at one academic institution over a 10-year period and review the literature. This retrospective cohort study monitored outcomes of all patients who underwent orbital exenteration surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary between January 2003 and January 2013. Patients with no follow-up data or survival data were excluded from the study. The main outcome measures were surgical complications, disease status of surgical margins, need for adjuvant treatment, local recurrence, metastases and survival. 23 patients with malignancy and 2 with mucormycosis met inclusion criteria for the study. Surgical procedures included non-lid sparing total exenteration (44%), lid-sparing total exenteration (32%), non-lid sparing partial exenteration (8%) and lid-sparing partial exenteration (16%). 44% underwent additional extra-orbital procedures. Survival rates were 72% at 1 year, 48% at 3 years, and 37% at 5 years. Of patients with malignancies, 48% had clear margins after exenteration. There was no statistically significant difference in survival between patients with negative surgical margins compared to positive margins (p = 0.12). Mortality was highest in patients with melanoma (85.7%) and lowest in patients with non-squamous cell lid malignancies (0%). Our study suggests that the type of disease has a much greater impact on the survival of patients undergoing exenteration surgery than the type of exenteration surgery or the disease status of surgical margins. Patients with non-squamous cell lid malignancies and localized orbital disease have the best prognosis for tumor eradication from this radical and highly disfiguring surgery.

Invasive fungal disease of the sinus and orbit: a comparison between mucormycosis and Aspergillus.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Invasive fungal infections of the head and neck are rare life-threatening infections where prompt diagnosis and intervention is critical for survival. The aim of this study is to determine the clinical characteristics and outcomes of invasive fungal disease of the sinus and orbit, and to compare mucormycosis and Aspergillus infection. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted from a single tertiary care eye and ear hospital over 20 years (1994-2014). Twenty-four patients with a confirmed pathological diagnosis of invasive fungal disease of the sinus and/or orbit were identified and their medical records were reviewed. The main outcome measures were type of fungus, location of disease, mortality and visual outcome. RESULTS: Patients with orbital involvement had a higher mortality and higher likelihood of mucormycosis infection compared with those with sinus-only disease (78.6% vs 20%, p=0.01; 86% vs 30%, p=0.01, respectively). Patients with mucormycosis had a higher mortality (71%) than patients with Aspergillus (29%); however, this was not statistically significant (p=0.16). All patients with orbital involvement and/or mucormycosis infections were immunosuppressed or had inadequately controlled diabetes, and had a cranial neuropathy or ocular motility dysfunction. All five post-transplant patients with orbital infections died, while the two transplant patients with sinus infections survived. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with orbital fungal infections are more likely to be infected with mucormycosis compared with Aspergillus and have a higher mortality compared with infections sparing the orbit. History of transplant portends a dismal prognosis in orbital infections. Invasive fungal disease should be considered in any immunocompromised patient presenting with a new cranial neuropathy or ocular motility abnormality.

Malignant rhabdoid transformation of a longstanding, aggressive, and recurrent orbital angiomyxoma.

A 47-year-old woman presented with a medial orbital tumor initially diagnosed as either a myxoid neurofibroma or myoepithelioma. Over 30 years the tumor recurred seven times and was serially debulked. Careful histopathologic analysis coupled with immunohistochemical studies performed on the last two biopsies established the rare diagnosis of a locally aggressive angiomyxoma (because of its local infiltrative growth) with myofibroblastic features (smooth muscle actin and calponin positivity and desmin negativity). The last recurrence manifested at a shorter interval than the earlier ones, suggesting an accelerating clinical course. By this late stage there was complete blindness, a frozen globe, and extreme, unmeasurable proptosis accompanied by massive chemosis and eyelid fullness. An exenteration was performed, and the orbital contents contained a persistent angiomyxoma, but additionally, another cellular population had emerged-mitotically active cells with a malignant rhabdoid phenotype (round shape, cytoplasmic hyaline/globoid inclusions composed of whorls of compact vimentin filaments as well as epithelial membrane antigen and focal cytokeratin positivity). This is the first orbital case of a rhabdoid transformation of a benign orbital mesenchymal tumor. Shortly after the exenteration, multifocal metastases, notably to the lungs, were found, leading to the introduction of chemotherapy, which was discontinued because of non-responsiveness of the tumor and patient intolerance. After 1 year of follow up, the patient is still alive, but has persistent active disease with widespread metastases and a guarded prognosis.

Endoscopic bimanual approach to an intraconal cavernous hemangioma of the orbital apex with vascularized flap reconstruction.

The aim of this study was to describe a transnasal endoscopic bimanual technique for the removal of an intraconal orbital apex cavernous hemangioma. Report of a surgical technique. A 39-year-old woman with unilateral visual loss and proptosis was found to have an intraconal orbital apex mass consistent radiographically with cavernous hemangioma. Because of its posteromedial location within the orbit, a transnasal 4-handed endoscopic technique was used with pedicled nasoseptal flap reconstruction. The tumor was excised, and the patient had no complications. The transnasal endoscopic approach to orbital apex cavernous hemangioma excision is a viable surgical approach for these difficult to access lesions. The medial orbital wall may be simultaneously reconstructed to prevent diplopia and enophthalmos.

Microdebrider use in orbital surgery.

PURPOSE: To report the novel use of a sinus microdebrider for the removal of tissue during orbital surgery. METHODS: This retrospective study reviewed the logs of 3 surgeons to identify patients who required orbital surgery during which the surgeon chose to use a sinus microdebrider with an open sky technique as a means of removing portions of the orbital tissue. Collected data included patient demographics, clinical examinations, pathologic diagnoses, radiologic studies, operative reports and, when available, photographs and intra-operative video. RESULTS: Three patients were identified as having undergone orbital surgery assisted by the use of a sinus microdebrider. The first patient had an extensive, recurrent left orbital myxoid tumor. Debulking of this gelatinous, infiltrative mass was aided by the combined suction and cutting action of the microdebrider. Two cases involved orbital exenteration for infiltrative sino-orbital fungus infection resulting in a blind eye and frozen globe. Removal of orbital apical tissue during exenteration surgery was facilitated with the microdebrider. CONCLUSIONS: The characteristics of the sinus microdebrider make it a useful adjunct for orbital surgery, particularly in situations where tissue may be difficult to grasp and excise. Caution should be exercised whenever using this electrically powered tool due to its potential for rapid tissue destruction. Therefore, the microdebrider should only be used in cases in which there is little risk of damage to essential orbital structures.

Dacryops in the setting of a Boston type II keratoprosthesis.

Dacryops of the lacrimal tissue can develop under diverse circumstances. Recent evidence suggests that scarring or obstruction of the lacrimal ducts may lead to their dilatation and formation of a cystic structure. Patients who undergo repeated orbital surgery may therefore be at greater risk of dacryops formation. In this report, a patient who underwent multiple corneal and glaucoma procedures including Boston type II keratoprosthesis, after acid burns to both eyes, is described. Over time, a fluid-filled collection developed in the lower orbit. On surgical exploration and incision, fluid was drained from a cystic lesion which abutted the lacrimal gland and spanned the upper and lower orbits. The lesion was removed and was proven by histopathology and immunohistochemistry to be dacryops. This is the first known case of dacryops associated with Boston type II keratoprosthesis.

Gaze-evoked amaurosis from orbital breast carcinoma metastasis.

Gaze-evoked amaurosis (GEA) is a transient monocular vision loss provoked by eccentric gaze. Gaze-evoked amaurosis has been associated with a variety of orbital lesions, most commonly optic nerve sheath meningiomas and cavernous hemangiomas. The authors describe the first report in the literature of GEA as the presenting symptom of an orbital metastasis. The patient was a 47-year-old woman with a history of breast cancer with no known history of metastasis or active disease who presented with several weeks of vision loss in the OD upon rightward gaze. She was found to have enophthalmos and optic disc edema of the OD. Imaging revealed an intraorbital lesion, and a biopsy was consistent with a scirrhous metastasis of her breast carcinoma. This case highlights the importance of considering orbital metastases among the differential for gaze-evoked amaurosis.