Clinical and Demographic Characteristics of Blepharoptosis in Korea: A 24-year Experience including 2,328 Patients.

PURPOSE: To describe the demographics, relative incidence of subtypes, and clinical characteristics of blepharoptosis in Korean patients. METHODS: This is a retrospective, observational case series consisting of 2,328 patients who underwent ptosis surgery from 1991 to 2014 at a tertiary referral hospital in Korea. The patients were classified according to the type of ptosis and the evaluation of clinical characteristics including levator muscle function (LF) and degree of ptosis. RESULTS: Of the 2,328 patients, 1,815 (78%) had congenital ptosis and 513 (22%) had acquired ptosis. Simple congenital ptosis is the most common type overall (73.7%), and aponeurotic ptosis is the most common acquired type. More than three-quarters of eyes with congenital ptosis were affected in a moderate (34.4%) to severe degree (41.3%), and most of these eyes had fair (33.7%) to poor LF (60.1%). Among eyes with acquired ptosis, approximately three-quarters were affected in a mild (33.3%) to moderate degree (41.0%), with 63.3% of these eyes having good LF. The most widely used surgical technique was frontalis suspension (55.1%), followed by levator resection (29.0%) and aponeurosis repair (14.8%). At 3 years after the first surgery, 15.7% of patients with congenital ptosis and 10.4% of patients with acquired ptosis underwent reoperation. CONCLUSIONS: Although the prevalence has decreased from previous years, the proportion of cases with congenital ptosis was higher in this study than has been shown in research conducted in the West. The majority of eyes with congenital ptosis was affected to a severe degree and had poor LF, while those with acquired ptosis were affected to a moderate degree and had good LF. More cases with acquired ptosis presented with fair to poor LF, and frontalis suspension surgery was performed more commonly compared to previous studies. The reoperation rate was higher in congenital ptosis compared to acquired ptosis.

The Effect of Systemic Steroids and Orbital Radiation for Active Graves Orbitopathy on Postdecompression Extraocular Muscle Volume.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of orbital radiation prior to surgery on the clinical course and extraocular muscle (EOM) radiologic volume changes after decompression in Graves orbitopathy (GO). DESIGN: Retrospective, interventional case series. METHODS: The medical records of patients treated with orbital decompression for GO and who underwent postoperative orbital computed tomography were reviewed. Only patients who underwent rehabilitative decompression in the inactive phase and who received systemic corticosteroids alone (ST group) or combined orbital radiation and systemic corticosteroids (SRT group) in the active inflammatory phase of the disease were selected. The main outcome measure was the comparison of preoperative and postoperative EOM volumes. Secondary outcome measures were changes in proptosis and diplopia after decompression. RESULTS: Thirty-seven of 114 patients were selected for this study. There were no differences between the ST group (n = 22, 42 eyes) and SRT group (n = 15, 30 eyes) in terms of demographics or predecompression characteristics. After decompression surgery, the total EOM volume significantly increased by 15% in the ST group, but radiated EOMs in the SRT group did not expand, resulting in decreased induction of postoperative diplopia. The percentages of patients showing increased diplopia after decompression differed significantly between the groups (ST group, 40.9% vs SRT group, 13.3%, P = .04). However, there was no difference in exophthalmos reduction after decompression between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Orbital radiation prior to orbital decompression can reduce both the postoperative increase in EOM volume and deterioration in diplopia.

Implications of enlarged infraorbital nerve in idiopathic orbital inflammatory disease.

PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical characteristics of idiopathic orbital inflammatory (IOI) disease with infraorbital nerve (ION) enlargement. DESIGN: Retrospective, comparative case series. PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive patients who were diagnosed with IOI between January 2009 and December 2013 were identified. The study included patients whose medical and radiological data at diagnosis were available and whose follow-up period was more than 12 months after treatment. The patients were divided into two groups according to accompaniment of ION enlargement and were compared. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: clinical manifestation, radiology and treatment outcome. RESULTS: Among 89 patients with IOI, 12 (13.5%) were identified to have ION enlargement. The ION-enlarged group showed a higher percentage of the patients with diffuse inflammation (66.7%, p<0.001). 91.7% of the ION-enlarged group showed inferiorly located inflammation. Patients with ION enlargement showed a significantly higher incidence rate of proptosis (p=0.013), pain (p=0.004) and altered sensation (p<0.001). The recurrence rate was significantly higher in the ION-enlarged group (83.3%) than in the other group (33.8%) (p=0.001). Repetitive inflammation (recurrence ≥3) with steroid dependency was found only in 19.5% patients without ION enlargement but in 66.7% patients with ION enlargement. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ION-enlarged IOI showed distinct clinical and radiological characteristics. As IOI accompanied by ION enlargement showed significantly higher steroid dependency and recurrence rate, a more careful follow-up of patients during steroid tapering might be helpful to prevent recurrence of IOI.

Development of Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy in Patients Who Underwent Total Thyroidectomy.

PURPOSE: To report clinical characteristics of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) in patients who previously underwent total thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer or a benign mass of the thyroid. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of the patients who were diagnosed with TAO from March 2008 to March 2012, we performed a retrospective chart review on those who had undergone total thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer or a benign mass of the thyroid before the occurrence of ophthalmopathy. RESULTS: Of the 206 patients diagnosed with TAO, seven (3.4%) met the inclusion criteria. The mean age of the subjects was 47.4 years, and all were female. Six patients were diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer, and one was diagnosed with a benign mass. The duration between total thyroidectomy and onset of TAO ranged from 3-120 months (median 48 months). Ophthalmic manifestations varied among cases. Except for the patient who was diagnosed with a benign mass, all patients showed hyperthyroid status and were under Synthroid hormone treatment at the time of TAO development. Five of these six patients had positive levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor autoantibodies. CONCLUSION: TAO rarely develops after total thyroidectomy, and the mechanism of TAO occurrence is unclear. However, most patients showed abnormalities in thyroid function and TSH receptor autoantibodies.

Visual fields and OCT role in diagnosis of glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical performance of visual field (VF) tests and optical coherence tomography (OCT) in diagnosing glaucoma. METHODS: One hundred sets of disc photographs, red-free fundus photographs, VF tests, and OCT images were presented progressively to seven ophthalmologists. Each set was provided in three steps: (1) the disc and red-free fundus photographs were shown first; (2) then, VF tests were also provided; and (3) finally, the OCT results were provided. The same process was repeated on another day. Kappa statistics were used to assess the intraobserver and interobserver agreement, as well as the agreement with the reference standard. RESULTS: The intraobserver agreement was almost perfect in this study and did not change markedly with the addition of diagnostic tools. The interobserver agreement increased from 0.54 to 0.61 when VF was added and increased slightly to 0.63 with OCT. The agreement with the reference standard also increased significantly from 0.48 to 0.61 after adding VF and increased slightly with additional OCT. CONCLUSIONS: An optic disc evaluation and VF test are sufficient to diagnose glaucoma in most cases. However, OCT can play an important role in detecting glaucoma in cases in which it cannot be identified by optic disc examination and VF.