CARBON-DIOXIDE LASER PTOSIS SURGERY COMBINED WITH BLEPHAROPLASTY

BACKGROUND. Repair Of levator aponeurosis pathology has become accepte d technique for the correction of acquired ptosis. Extensive experienc e with carbon dioxide (CO2) laser blepharoplasty has been obtained. OB JECTIVE. CO2 laser blepharoplasty techniques are expanded to repair aq uired ptosis. METHODS. A step-wise outline of laser surgical technique is presented. RESULTS. A retrospective serial study of 82 patients is reviewed and compared favorably with other reported series. Improveme nt in appearance and reduction of asymmetry to less than 1 mm was obse rved in 69 patients (84%). Thirteen patients had more than 1 mm of asy mmetry and eight underwent surgical revisions. No long-term complicati ons such as chronic exposure keratitis were noted. CONCLUSIONS. The CO 2 laser repair of acquired ptosis by aponeurotic surgery can be combin ed with blepharoplasty surgery. Improved intraoperative hemostasis, de creased operating time, and improved appearance in the immediate posto perative period are achieved with this technique.