Reoperation for congenital ptosis: characteristics, success rates, and predicting factors

Reoperation for congenital ptosis has added morbidity. The purpose of the current study was to examine the risk for redo ptosis surgery in patients with congenital ptosis, as well as to find predictive factors for reoperation.

This is a retrospective, cohort study. Analysis of all patients with congenital ptosis who underwent their first ptosis correction surgery between 2012 and 2021 at Sheba Medical Center was performed.

Sixty patients (36 male and 24 female) underwent ptosis surgery for congenital ptosis Twenty nine patients (48.33%) underwent frontalis sling (FS), 13 patients (21.67%) underwent levator muscle (LM) surgeries, 9 patients received levator resection (LR), 4 patients received external levator advancement (LAA), and 18 patients (30%) underwent Müller's muscle-conjunctival resection (MMCR). Eighteen patients (30%) underwent a second ptosis surgery. The unadjusted risk of second ptosis surgery was almost four-fold among males with ptosis relative to females with ptosis (HR, 3.90; 95% CI, 3.67-547; p = 0.033) and higher among younger individuals (HR, 4.23; 95% CI, 3.33-5.62; p = 0.042). Older age was protective against the risk of second ptosis surgery (adjusted OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.21-0.60; p < 0.001), whereas male sex was associated with an increased likelihood of second ptosis surgery (adjusted OR, 3.33; 95% CI, 1.64-3.98; p < 0.001).

An increased risk of failure of the first surgery was found among male patients, younger patients, and patients with more severe ptosis before the first surgery. Awareness of those factors is beneficial for clinicians and parents.