ANTERIOR LAMELLAR REPOSITIONING AND GREY LINE SPLIT FOR UPPER LID ENTROPION IN OCULAR CICATRICIAL PEMPHIGOID

Purpose. Trichiasis in ocular cicatricial pemphigoid (OCP) is usually due to cicatricial entropion and is a major cause of ocular morbidity, Unfortunately in this disease, direct surgery on the conjunctiva ofte n results in marked inflammation and cicatrisation, This paper assesse d a procedure that corrects cicatricial entropion of the upper lid whi le avoiding surgery to the conjunctiva. Methods. A grey line upper lid split and a vertical anterior lamellar repositioning was performed on 16 lids of 11 patients with OCP. Results, Anatomical success was achi eved in 72% of lids at 1 year and 61% had complete success with no las hes touching the globe. These outcomes were maintained up to 4 years. There were no perioperative complications, Two patients post-operative ly developed severe conjunctival inflammation that required systemic i mmunosuppression. The causes of failure were primary surgical failure (n = 2), progression of cicatrisation secondary to surgically induced inflammation (n = 1), development of misdirected lashes (n = 1) and la te recurrence at 7 months (n = 1). One patient developed peaking of th e eyelid. Conclusions. This procedure has a good long-term outcome wit h minimal complications, Activation of severe conjunctival inflammatio n occurred in 13% of cases and this must be considered pre- and post-o peratively.