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Updated: Jun 3, 2026
Customizing a Cryolite Glass Prosthetic Eye
Published on: October 31, 2019
The patient with an ocular prosthesis and his mirror image
Ilse Mombaerts1, Luc Missotten
1Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Ilse.Mombaerts@uzleuven.be
Purpose:
In daily practice, it is often encountered that family and friends prefer the true image of the patient with an ocular prosthesis to the image in the mirror. Hence, when the patient looks at himself in the mirror, he may have the worst image of self. The authors studied the subjective difference between the mirror and true image of patients with an ocular prosthesis.
Methods:
Controlled, prospective case series, including 16 patients with an ocular prosthesis and 16 healthy volunteers. The authors designed a double-mirror device that allowed the participant to see both his mirror and unreversed true image and asked the participants which image they preferred. In a slide show with pairs of the original and mirror-reversed photographs of the participants, they were asked which of the 2 photographs of each pair they preferred, of themselves and of the other participants.
Results:
Of the patients, 100% preferred their mirror image and 79% their mirror-reversed photograph. Of the volunteers, these preferences were 81% and 60%, respectively. The volunteers significantly preferred the photograph of the patients with the ocular prosthesis on their left side.
Conclusions:
The patient with an ocular prosthesis prefers his mirror image. While judging unfamiliar faces, the right eye is considered to be more important in the case of abnormality.
