Blepharochalasis. A review of 30 cases

This paper presents the findings in a series of 30 patients with blepharochalasis, including the age of onset, sex, predisposing factors, symptoms and signs, frequency and duration of attacks, and length of the history. There were 16 bilateral and 14 unilateral cases. The condition can be divided into an active (early) and a quiescent (late) stage. The active stage is further subdivided into intumescent (hypertrophic) and atrophic forms. The sequelae included excess thin skin, fat herniation, lacrimal gland prolapse, ptosis, blepharophimosis, pseudoepicanthic fold, proptosis, conjunctival injection and cysts, entropion, and ectorpion. Surgery primarily involved blepharoplasty, ptosis correction, and lateral canthal reattachment alone or in combination. The pathology showed a variable picture of epithelial atrophy, vasculitis, and loss of elastic fibers, which did not greatly help to differentiate blepharochalasis from angioedema, lymphedema, dermatochalasis, tumors and infiltrations, and floppy lid syndromes. Blepharochalasis is probably a localized angioedema. The diagnosis depends on the clinical features of intermittent attacks of localized swelling affecting one or more eyelids associated with thinning of the skin giving either an intumescent (hypertrophic) or atrophic appearance in the active stage of the condition and progressing to atrophic changes in the quiescent (late) stage.