Nonstandard cases of blepharoptosis in patients with subcutaneous dirofilariasis, chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia, and blepharochalyasis of allergic origin (clinical observations)

The medico-social significance of upper eyelid omission is associated, on the one hand, with a relatively high frequency of occurrence (up to 32% among ophthalmic patients) and, on the other hand, with a significant decrease in the quality of life of patients with blepharoptosis due to the appearance of various consequences—a deficit of the field of vision from above, functional blindness, contracture of the neck muscles, and a reduction in the psycho-emotional background of appearance changes.

Ptosis of the upper eyelid can develop from a variety of rare and even casuistic causes, including slowly progressing external ophthalmoplegia, blepharochalasis of allergic origin, and extremely rare as one of the manifestations/consequences of subcutaneous dirofilariasis. Because these diseases are rare (less than 10 cases per 100,000 population), even descriptions of individual clinical cases are important for detailing and generalizing knowledge about etiopathogenesis, the possibilities of clinical diagnostic measures, and the effectiveness of treatment for the pathologies under consideration.

AIM: Using clinical cases of blepharoptosis in patients with chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia, subcutaneous dirofilariasis, and blepharochalasis of allergic origin to show the relationship between etiopathogenesis, upper eyelid lifting dynamometric muscle parameters, and surgical treatment methods.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study presents three clinical cases with different causes of the development of upper eyelid ptosis, which were performed in addition to the standard ophthalmological examination, diagnosis of the underlying disease, and dynamometric measurements of contractility and fatigue of the upper eyelid lifting muscle, followed surgical treatment methods.

CONCLUSION: Data were used in determining the contractility and fatigue of the muscle that raises the upper eyelid while deciding on a surgical treatment method for blepharoptosis. Considering the causes for the development of blepharoptosis, it is possible to obtain good results from operative correction of the upper eyelid omission, which improves their quality of life.