Subbrow blepharoplasty for upper eyelid rejuvenation in Asians

Classical blepharoplasty removes supratarsal upper eyelid skin rather than subbrow skin. It does not adequately address the redundant skin of lateral hooding. Asians tend to have higher eyebrows than whites. For Asian women who have tattooed eyebrows with redundant upper lateral eyelid skin and who request a rejuvenating upper eyelid procedure, subbrow blepharoplasty (SBB) is an additional option to consider.

This study evaluated the role of a less commonly employed blepharoplasty technique in rejuvenating the upper eyelid in carefully selected patients. The value of this technique was judged by patient-reported ratings.

This was a prospective study. Patients presenting to our clinic between January 1997 and September 2008 for the excision of redundant upper eyelid skin were interviewed and examined for suitability for SBB. In this 11-year period, 804 patients underwent upper blepharoplasty. Of these patients, 101 (12.6%) were deemed suitable and were selected for SBB. Criteria for inclusion into the study were those who had dermatochalasis of the upper eyelids with lateral hooding.

The aesthetic improvements were judged by the patients' subjective impressions (either satisfactory or unsatisfactory). All ratings were collected at four weeks postsurgery. Ninety-two patients (91.1%) rated their results as satisfactory, and nine patients (8.9%) rated their results as unsatisfactory.

SBB is a useful operation to rejuvenate the upper eyelids in selected patients while maintaining harmony with their ethnic facial features. This refinement overcomes some of the shortcomings of other upper blepharoplasty methods employed for the same purpose.