Epicanthoplasty with autotransplantation of the skin flap in blepharophimosis syndrome
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Purpose. Creation of a new method of epicanthoplasty for blepharophimosis syndrome, which makes it possible to fill the skin deficit in the medial angle area, evaluation of its effectiveness, cosmetic results, as well as the development of indications for its use. Material and methods. A prospective study of a group of patients (n=12) with blepharophimosis syndrome. At the stage of selecting patients for the study group, the type and severity of the epicanthic fold were evaluated according to the author’s classification. According to the results of the selection, the study group included 8 patients with the third degree of severity of epicanthus inversus and 4 patients with a type of epicanthus close in shape to the direct one. All patients underwent epicantoplasty with autotransplantation of the skin flap. Examination of patients and evaluation of treatment results were carried out on the day of the patient’s discharge from the hospital (5th day after surgery), 1 and 6 months after surgery. The evaluation of the results of the operation included an objective examination for the complete elimination of epicanthus, measurement of the length of the eye slit before and after surgery, determination of the visibility of the postoperative scar by cosmetometry, as well as assessment of patient satisfaction with the results obtained by means of a questionnaire. Additionally, for comparison, 14 postoperative photographs of patients with blepharophimosis syndrome operated with flap epicantoplasty techniques were analyzed by cosmetometry. Results. Epicanthus was completely eliminated in all 12 (100%) patients. The length of the palpebral fissure before surgery was 18.50±1.93, after surgery — 24.17±1.80 (p<0.001). An objective assessment of the condition of postoperative scars by cosmetometry also showed a statistical difference between the indicators of the main and control groups (p<0.001). According to the results of the questionnaire after the operation, all respondents rated their satisfaction with their appearance by 4 and 5 points, which corresponds to the indicators «good result» and «excellent result», respectively. Conclusion. The presented method of epicanthoplasty with autotransplantation of the skin flap is an affordable and effective method of treating epicanthus in patients with blepharophimosis syndrome. The technique does not require precise calculations and positioning of skin flaps, which are necessary when performing existing flap techniques of epicanthoplasty. At the same time, it allows you to get a good cosmetic result, reduce scarring of the skin in the area of surgery and minimize the risk of repeated operations associated with insufficient or asymmetric correction. Keywords: blepharophimosis syndrome, palpebral syndrome, epicanthus, epicanthus inversus, epicanthoplasty
Language: English
Subfield: Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7205000752