Amblyopia in Childhood Eyelid Ptosis

Abstract

Purpose To report the prevalence and causes of amblyopia among children with ptosis diagnosed in a well-defined population over a 40-year period. Design Retrospective, population-based cohort study. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the charts of one hundred and seven patients (< 19 years) for the prevalence and causes of amblyopia who were diagnosed with childhood ptosis as residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, from January 1, 1965, through December 31, 2004. Results Amblyopia was diagnosed in 16 (14.9%) of the 107 patients with childhood ptosis. Fourteen (14.6%) of 96 patients diagnosed with a congenital form of ptosis demonstrated amblyopia. Twelve (14.8%) of the 81 patients diagnosed with simple congenital ptosis had amblyopia, 7 (8.6%) of which were due solely to eyelid occlusion of the visual axis. The causes of amblyopia in the remaining 5 patients were due to significant refractive error in 3 patients and strabismus in 2 patients. Conclusions Amblyopia occurred in 1 in 7 children diagnosed with ptosis in this population-based cohort. Approximately half of those with amblyopia, or less than 10% of all patients, were due solely to eyelid occlusion of the visual axis.

Clinical and etiological aspects of ptosis at university hospital of cotonou

“…Our study revealed that the upper palpebral fold was absent in 38.4% of cases, which was contrary to the observations with some authors [4,6] who found the palpebral bulge generally in good position. It should be noticed, however, that this information lacks in many of the patients in our series (30.1%).…”

“…This proportion is much lower than that observed in the literature [4,6], which notes the predominance of congenital ptosis in 75% of cases, probably due to parents' ignorance.…”

“…This delay in consultation could be explained by the non-painful nature of non-traumatic ptosis, the absence of any real visual discomfort in the light ptosis. Amblyopia was noted in 20.5% of cases, more than 14.9% with Gregory et al [6] in [5] in Morocco. This high percentage of the Moroccan study could be justified by the specificity of their series with congenital ptosis.…”

Strabismus in Childhood Eyelid Ptosis

“…Both cases were in children with exotropia and in each case the amblyopia was secondary to strabismus. 5 …”

“…The incidence and demographics of this population of children with eyelid ptosis and the prevalence of amblyopia have been previously reported. 4,5 …”