PURPOSE:To comprehensively review the literature about numerical aberrations of the orbital muscles of ocular motility (here referred to as extraocular muscles [EOMs]) and the levator palpebrae superioris (LPS). METHODS:The authors summarize the embryologic bases and the possible etiopathogenetic causes of numerical aberrations of the EOMs and the LPS and organize these lesions into several broad categories. The clinical and radiologic diagnostic challenges are discussed. RESULTS:Numerical aberrations of the EOMs include: 1) the complete absence of EOMs, 2) duplication of an entire EOM, 3) the presence of muscle bands that connect 2 EOMs, and 4) minor morphological variations such as bifid muscles (partial splitting of the muscle). Some cases may defy categorization into any of the above or may resemble atavistic remnants of the retractor bulbi muscle. Broadly speaking, numerical aberrations of the LPS generally fall into the same categories although the LPS has several peculiar numerical anomalies of its own. CONCLUSIONS:Although numerical EOM and LPS variations are relatively rare and of little clinical significance, raising awareness about their presence is a fundamental clinical keystone not just for the strabismus surgeon but for the orbital surgeon as well. During orbital surgery, this may spare the surgeon from pursuing an orbital witch hunt for these benign innocuous accessory orbital structures that were accidentally discovered by the radiologist and misinterpreted as sinister etiologies. For the strabismus surgeon, the failure to identify them may result in an unfavorable surgical outcome if these structures are missed because of a lack of awareness despite being responsible for generating complex strabismus patterns or having a restrictive potential of their own.
Department of Ophthalmology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.A. The author has no financial or conflicts of interest to disclose.Address correspondence and reprint requests to Jonathan J. Dutton, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Ophthalmology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. 4511 Chicopee Trail, Durham, NC 27707. E-mail: [email protected]
Purpose: Vascular anomalies are a heterogeneous group of disorders that frequently present in the periorbital region. They encompass 2 broad entities: vascular tumors, which possess a proliferative endothelium, and vascular malformations, which are basically localized defects of vascular morphogenesis. The primary goal of this review was to address inaccurate or controversial terminology in the oculoplastic literature concerning orbital and periorbital vascular anomalies and to categorize these lesions in an abridged and simplified hierarchical list that adheres as much as possible to the most recent (2018) iteration for the classification of vascular lesions proposed by the International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA). The secondary goal of this review was to review and update information regarding the genetic underpinnings of vascular anomalies and the downstream signaling pathways that are subsequently affected as a result of these genetic errors. Methods: A literature review was conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, PubMed Central, National Center for Biotechnology Information Bookshelf, and Embase for several related keywords including "vascular anomalies, vascular malformations, vascular tumors, and cavernous venous malformation," both with and without adding the keywords "eyelid," "orbital," and "periorbital." In addition, a detailed search was conducted for controversial or obsolete keywords like "cavernous hemangioma," "lymphangioma," and "varices," again in their systemic and orbital/periorbital context. Results: Crucial issues in the 2018 ISSVA classification regarding the proper categorization of orbital vascular anomalies, particularly venous lesions, were critically evaluated and revised, and a regional, simplified, and abridged modification of the ISSVA 2018 classification was proposed. Conclusions: Interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary dialogue concerning orbital vascular anomalies is seriously compromised due to the lack of a unanimous agreement on terminology and the absence of a unified classification concept system. The authors recommend that oculoplastic surgeons adopt ISSVA terminology whenever technically possible and scientifically sound. However, they also propose modifying the ISSVA 2018 classification specifically to adapt to the peculiarities of vascular anomalies in the periorbital region. At present, the simplified classification proposed here is a preliminary first step towards managing patients with orbital vascular anomalies with greater diagnostic and therapeutic precision, until such time in the future when the entire genetic makeup of orbital vascular anomalies is more completely elucidated. Optimistically, this could pave the way for a more robust classification and the ultimate therapeutic cure.
Purpose: Prophylactic enucleation of a ruptured globe with no light perception within 14 days of injury to prevent sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) has been an established dictum in academic teaching for more than 100 years. This treatment strategy was originally based on observation, speculation, and careful thought, but there was never any scientific proof. This review summarizes and updates the current state of our knowledge about globe rupture and SO, examines the origin and validity of the 14-day rule, and emphasizes the importance of trying to save the traumatized eye whenever possible. Methods: A comprehensive literature review of SO and globe rupture was performed. Results: SO is a rare disorder that may potentially occur following traumatic globe rupture as well as following a variety of other intraocular surgeries. Vitreoretinal surgery may be a more common cause than trauma according to some studies. SO may still occur despite having the eye removed within 14 days of the trauma. A variety of new medications including biologic agents are now available to treat SO with improved efficacy in suppressing the associated ocular inflammation and allowing retention of some useful vision. Removing the traumatized, blind eye may have other important psychological consequences associated with it that require consideration before eye removal is carried out. Retaining the blind, phthisical, disfigured eye avoids phantom vision and phantom pain associated with enucleation as well as providing a good platform to support and move an overlying prosthetic eye. Data on the occurrence of SO following evisceration and enucleation with and without predisposing factors confirms the exceedingly low risk. Conclusion: Most civilian open globe injuries can be successfully repaired with modern, advanced microsurgical techniques currently available. Because of the exceedingly low risk of SO, even with the severity of open globe trauma during military conflicts being more devastating as a result of the blast and explosive injuries, today every attempt is made to primarily close the eye rather than primarily enucleate it, providing there is enough viable tissue to repair. The 14-day rule for eye removal after severe globe ruptures is not scientifically supported and does not always protect against SO, but the safe time period for prophylactic eye removal is not definitively known. In the exceptional cases where SO does occur, several new medications are now available that may help treat SO. We advocate saving the ruptured globe whenever possible and avoiding prophylactic enucleation to prevent the rare occurrence of SO. When an eye requires removal, evisceration is an acceptable alternative to enucleation in cases that do not harbor intraocular malignancy.
Purpose:Apraxia of eyelid opening (AEO) has been defined by the presence of an intermittent nonparalytic bilateral loss of the volitional ability to open the eyes or to maintain the eyelids in a sustained elevated position. It is not known whether the condition represents an apraxia, a dystonia, or a freezing phenomenon, and several different nomenclatorial terms have been suggested for this condition including the so-called AEO (scAEO), blepahrocolysis, focal eyelid dystonia, and so on. The primary goal of this review is to attempt to clarify the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying scAEO as a clinical phenomenon. This review also addresses the issue of whether scAEO is part of the spectrum of blepharospasm (BSP) which includes BSP, dystonic blinks and other dystonic eyelid conditions, or whether it is a separate phenomenologically heterogeneous disease with clinical features that merely overlap with BSP. Methods:A literature review was conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, PubMed Central (PMC), NCBI Bookshelf, and Embase for several related keywords including the terms "apraxia of eyelid opening," "pretarsal blepharospasm," "blepharocolysis," "eyelid freezing," "eyelid akinesia," "levator inhibition," "blepharospasm-plus," as well as "blepharospasm." The clinical findings in patients with scAEO who fulfilled the classic diagnostic criteria of the disease that were originally set by Lepore and Duvoisin were included, while patients with isolated blepharospasm or dystonic blinks (DB) were excluded. In addition, electromyographic (EMG) studies in patients with scAEO were reviewed in detail with special emphasis on studies that performed synchronous EMG recordings both from the levator muscle (LPS) and the pretarsal orbicularis oculi muscle (OO). Results:The apraxia designation is clearly a misnomer. Although scAEO behaves clinically as a hypotonic freezing phenomenon, it also shares several cardinal features with focal dystonias. The authors broadly categorized the EMG data into 3 different patterns. The first pattern (n = 26/94 [27.6%]) was predominantly associated with involuntary discharges in the OO muscle and has been termed pretarsal blepharospasm (ptBSP). The commonest pattern was pattern no. 2 (n = 53/94 [56.38%]), which was characterized by involuntary discharges in the OO muscle, together with a disturbed reciprocal innervation of the antagonist levator muscle and is dubbed disturbed reciprocal innervation (DRI). This EMG pattern is difficult to discern from the first pattern. Pattern no. 3 (n = 15/94 [15.9%]) is characterized by an isolated levator palpebrae inhibition (ILPI). This levator silence was observed alone without EMG evidence of contractions in the pretarsal orbicularis or a disturbed reciprocal relation of both muscles. Conclusion:EMG evidence shows that the great majority (84%) of patients show a dystonic pattern, whereas ILPI (16%) does not fit the dystonic spectrum. The authors propose that a spasmodic contraction of the muscle of Riolan may be the etiological basis for levator inhibition in patients with ILPI. If this is true, all the 3 EMG patterns observed in scAEO patients (ptBSP, DRI, and ILPI) would represent an atypical form of BSP. The authors suggest coining the terms Riolan muscle BSP (rmBSP) for ILPI, and the term atypical focal eyelid dystonia (AFED) instead of the term scAEO, as both terms holistically encompass both the clinical and EMG data and concur with the authors' theorem.
The author has no financial or conflicts of interest to disclose. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Jonathan J. Dutton, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Ophthalmology, University of North Carolina, 5151 Bioinformatics Building, CB#7040, Chapel Hill, NC 27599. E-mail: [email protected]
PURPOSE:Intravenous antibiotic prophylaxis is used for many clean-contaminated surgeries or clean surgeries with an implant, but its value for clean orbital surgery has not been determined. This study investigated infection risks and adverse effects related to antibiotics in patients undergoing orbital surgery.METHODS:A prospective, nonrandomized comparative case series of all patients undergoing orbital surgery with participating surgeons between October 1, 2013, and March 1, 2015. Types of surgery, antibiotic regimens, corticosteroid use, antibiotic side effects, and surgical site infections (SSIs) were entered into an electronic database and subsequently analyzed. Cases in which patients received postoperative oral antibiotics were analyzed separately.RESULTS:Of 1,250 consecutive orbital surgeries, 1,225 met inclusion criteria. A total of 1208 patients were included in the primary analysis: 603 received no antibiotic prophylaxis (group A), and 605 received a single dose of intravenous antibiotic (group B). Five patients (0.42%) developed an SSI, 3 in group A and 2 in group B. The difference in SSI rates was not statistically significant between the 2 groups (p = 0.66). Antibiotic prophylaxis, alloplastic implants, paranasal sinus entry, and corticosteroid use were not associated with differences in SSI rates. All SSIs resolved on a single course of oral antibiotics; an implant was removed in 1 case. There were no complications associated with a single dose of intravenous prophylaxis. However, 12% of 17 patients (group C) who received 1 week of oral postoperative prophylactic antibiotics developed antibiotic-related complications (diarrhea, renal injury), yielding a number needed to harm of 8.5.CONCLUSIONS:In this large series, antibiotic prophylaxis does not appear to have reduced the already low incidence of SSI following orbital surgery. Given the detriments of systemic antibiotics, the rarity of infections related to orbital surgery, and the efficacy of treating such infections should they occur, patients undergoing orbital surgery should be educated to the early symptoms of postoperative infection and followed closely, but do not routinely require perioperative antibiotics.
LEGENDA 13-year-old male presented with right ptosis and abnormal eyelid movement since birth. Family history was negative and the mother denied any history of drug intake during pregnancy. In primary gaze there was a moderate right upper eyelid ptosis, and levator function was 7 mm with excellent Bell’s phenomenon (Fig. A). On adduction of the OD, the right upper eyelid elevated to a level 1 mm higher than the left (Fig. B), but on right abduction, ptosis severity significantly increased (Fig. C). No change in palpebral fissure height was observed in up or down gaze, or with any jaw movement or clenching of the teeth (Fig. D). The pupils were normal with full ocular motility in all gazes, and there was no evidence for mechanical restriction of eyelid movement, ruling out a congenital third nerve palsy or Duane retraction syndrome. The etiology is most likely secondary to synkinesis between the levator and medial rectus muscles. Although Marcus Gunn jaw winking (trigemino-oculomotor synkinesis) has been described with abnormal eye movements (including abduction and adduction), to the best of the authors’ knowledge the occurrence of congenital isolated levator-medial rectus synkinesis with full ocular motility (without a jaw wink or mouth movement) has been reported only in 3 prior patients, 2 of whom without ptosis in primary gaze. The cause of levator-medial rectus synkinesis, or superior oculomotor-inferior oculomotor synkinesis is unknown, although genetic defects and maternal intake of isotretinoin during pregnancy have been implicated.
This case series assesses whether the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Cancer Staging Manual can be used to accurately estimate mortality rates of conjunctival melanoma. Key PointsQuestionCan the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Cancer Staging Manual for conjunctival melanoma be used to accurately estimate metastasis and mortality rates? FindingsIn this case series of 288 patients, there was a significantly higher cumulative mortality rate among patients with cT2 and cT3 conjunctival melanoma compared with those presenting with cT1 conjunctival melanoma. MeaningHigher T-staged tumors were associated with both an earlier and greater incidence of metastasis; therefore, the results from this multicenter, international registry study support the use of the eighth edition AJCC staging system for conjunctival melanoma. ImportanceEye cancer staging systems used for standardizing patient care and research need to be validated. ObjectiveTo evaluate the accuracy of the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Cancer Staging Manual in estimating metastatis and mortality rates of conjunctival melanoma. Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis international, multicenter, registry-based case series pooled data from 10 ophthalmic oncology centers from 9 countries on 4 continents. A total of 288 patients diagnosed with conjunctival melanoma from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2013, were studied. Data analysis was performed from July 7, 2018, to September 11, 2018. InterventionsTreatments included excision biopsy, cryotherapy, topical chemotherapy, radiation therapy, enucleation, and exenteration. Main Outcomes and MeasuresMetastasis rates and 5-year and 10-year Kaplan-Meier mortality rates according to the clinical T categories and subcategories of the eighth edition of the AJCC Cancer Staging Manual. ResultsA total of 288 eyes from 288 patients (mean [SD] age, 59.7 [16.8] years; 147 [51.0%] male) with conjunctival melanoma were studied. Clinical primary tumors (cT) were staged at presentation as cT1 in 218 patients (75.7%), cT2 in 34 (11.8%), cT3 in 15 (5.2%), and cTx in 21 (7.3%). There were no T4 tumors. Pathological T categories (pT) were pTis in 43 patients (14.9%), pT1 in 169 (58.7%), pT2 in 33 (11.5%), pT3 in 12 (4.2%), and pTx in 31 (10.8%). Metastasis at presentation was seen in 5 patients (1.7%). Metastasis during follow-up developed in 24 patients (8.5%) after a median time of 4.3 years (interquartile range, 2.9-6.0 years). Of the 288 patients, 29 died (melanoma-related mortality, 10.1%) at a median time of 5.3 years (interquartile range, 1.8-7.0 years). The cumulative rates of mortality among patients with cT1 tumors were 0% at 1 year, 2.5% (95% CI, 0.7%-7.7%) at 5 years, and 15.2% (95% CI, 8.1%-27.4%) at 10 years of follow-up; among patients with cT2 tumors, 0% at 1 year, 28.6% (95% CI, 12.9%-58.4%) at 5 years, and 43.6% (95% CI, 19.6%-77.9%) at 10 years of follow-up; and among patients with cT3 tumors, 21.1% (95% CI, 8.1%-52.7%) at 1 year of follow-up and 31.6% (95% CI, 13.5%-64.9%) at 5 years of follow-up. Patients with cT2 and cT3 tumors had a significantly higher cumulative mortality rate compared with those presenting with cT1 tumors (log-rank P<.001). Patients with ulcerated melanomas had significantly higher risk of mortality (hazard ratio, 7.58; 95% CI, 1.02-56.32; P=.04). Conclusions and RelevanceThis multicenter, international, collaborative study yielded evidence that the conjunctival melanoma staging system in the eighth edition of the AJCC Cancer Staging Manual can be used to accurately estimate metastasis and mortality rates. These findings appear to support the use of AJCC staging as a tool for patient care and research.
Idiopathic subepidermal calcinosis, also known as idiopathic calcinosis cutis, is a rare condition, which typically presents as a small, hard, subepithelial mass in the absence of systemic disease and trauma. We report on an atypical case of idiopathic calcinosis, which appeared in an otherwise healthy 61-year-old female along the tarsus of her right upper eyelid. The purpose of this case report is to demonstrate idiopathic calcinosis in an unusual location that is deep to the dermis and to discuss the vast differential diagnosis of this entity.
Purpose: To review and summarize the clinical findings in thyroid eye disease (TED) related to the unique anatomical structures of the eyelids and orbit. Methods: A PubMed search was performed searching for anatomical relationships between eyelid and orbital anatomy and the clinical findings of TED. Results: The major clinical findings associated with TED are varied. They typically involve both the eyelid and the orbit. In the eyelid, usual findings include upper eyelid retraction, contour abnormalities, eyelid edema, prolapsed orbital fat, conjunctival injection and chemosis, caruncular edema, and meibomian gland dysfunction. The exact causes of these changes remain a matter of controversy, but numerous hypotheses have been proposed, most with limited experimental support. In the orbit, inflammation and congestion characterize the acute active phase, with tissue expansion and fibrosis persisting into the chronic inactive phase. All of these findings result, at least in part, from the unique anatomy of the eyelids and orbit and their interaction with the immunologic processes underlying TED. Here we review these major characteristics of TED, with special reference to their anatomic relationships. Conclusions: The major findings characterizing TED are related to unique anatomic features in the eyelid, including Müller muscle, the levator palpebrae superioris muscle, and suspensory ligaments of the conjunctiva. In the orbit, Graves-related remolding results from the special physiologic features of the extraocular muscles, the structure of the orbital walls and their relations to adjacent paranasal sinuses, and the reaction of orbital fat to immunologic challenges.
PURPOSE To report surgical site infection (SSI) rates of eviscerations and enucleations with implants performed without perioperative intravenous (IV) antibiotics or postoperative oral antibiotics, and to give SSI prevention recommendations. METHODS A single-center retrospective chart review was performed after obtaining institutional review board approval. Charts were found by Current Procedural Terminology codes. Demographics, surgical indication, procedure, implant, antibiotic use, and postoperative course were recorded. SSIs occurring within 30 days after surgery were reviewed and postoperative infection rates were determined. RESULTS Four hundred eighty-one cases from January 1999 to December 2015 were analyzed. There were 102 eviscerations with implants, 314 enucleations with implants, 23 enucleations without implants, 23 implant exchanges, 15 implants placed secondarily after enucleation, and 4 implant removals. Seventy cases (14.6%) were given perioperative IV antibiotics, and in this group one periorbital infection occurred unrelated to orbital surgery (1.4%). Of the 411 cases (85.4%) not given perioperative IV antibiotics, 1 of 87 eviscerations with implants developed an SSI (1.1%), 2 of 273 enucleations with implants developed SSIs (0.7%), and none of the 13 enucleations without implants developed SSIs. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, this is the first published case series reporting SSI rates of enucleations and eviscerations with implants performed without perioperative IV antibiotics or postoperative oral antibiotics. With infection rates comparing favorably to other case series where antibiotics were given, the routine use of perioperative IV antibiotics and postoperative oral antibiotics for enucleations and eviscerations may not be indicated.