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A Rare Complication

Eben L. Rosenthal, MD; Shan R. Baker, MD
University of Michigan, Medical Center, Ann Arbor

Arch Facial Plast Surg. 1999;1:127-129.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

AESTHETIC blepharoplasty is a commonly performed elective surgical procedure. Facial plastic surgeons are cognizant of the need to identify preexisting thyroid ophthalmopathies during the initial patient interview. We report a case of postoperative Graves orbitopathy (GO) after 4-quadrant blepharoplasty in a patient without a prior history of ophthalmic or thyroid disease.

Complications associated with blepharoplasty are rare and usually limited to lid retraction and lagophthalmos. To our knowledge, activation of previously undiagnosed GO after blepharoplasty has not been previously reported in the literature. The prevalence of GO, although uncertain, has been estimated in studies in the United States at 0.4%. The mean age of presentation for Graves thyroid disease is 41 years and is between 4 and 7 times more common in women. More than 30% of patients diagnosed as having Graves disease will develop orbitopathy. We describe a patient who developed . . . [Full Text of this Article]

REPORT OF A CASE

COMMENT