Correction of lower eyelid retraction combined with entropion in thyroid eye disease patients of East Asian ancestry

Abstract

Purpose: This study evaluates causes and treatment of lower eyelid retraction with co-existing entropion in Thyroid Eye Disease (TED) patients of East Asian ancestry. Methods: The medical records for 25 eyelids from 15 TED patients with lower eyelid retraction and entropion who had undergone combined orbital decompression and lower eyelid retraction correction surgery at the Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University from January 2017 to December 2018 were prospectively reviewed. We build a numerical model of biomechanics to analyze von Mises stress and displacement at the lower eyelid. Results: The mean follow-up duration was 6 ± 2 months. The difference of mean exophthalmos was 5.16 ± 1.21 mm ( t = 21.26, p = 4.479E-17 < 0.05). The difference of mean MRD2 was 1.9 ± 0.14 mm ( t = 67.57, p = 6.751E-29 < 0.05). About 2 of 25 eyelids entropion recurred postoperatively; the overall success rate was 92%. The biomechanical analysis results reveal that the eyelid margin is given more stress and caused more displacement in East Asian ancestry under the same force of pressure. Conclusions: This study shows that the lower eyelid retraction with coexistent entropion is attributable to the unique anatomical features of patients of East Asians ancestry. We corrected the lower eyelid retraction and entropion during the orbital decompression operation. The results show that this method is safe and effective. It can simultaneously improve the symptoms of TED patients such as exophthalmos, lower eyelid retraction, and entropion, with minimal complications.