Suspension of the eyelid to the check ligament of the superior fornix for congenital blepharoptosis.

A new surgical procedure for the treatment of all types of congenital blepharoptosis is described: suspension of the eyelid to the check ligament of the superior fornix. This is a dynamic suspension technique by which the check ligament, which is an extension of Tenon's capsule and normally inserts into the superior conjunctival fornix, is brought forward and sutured to the tarsus, which raises the eyelid. This technique does not sacrifice or add any tissue and is simple to repeat if necessary. Sixty-two patients were operated on using the technique and followed up for a mean of 23 months (range 3 months to 9.6 years). In a group of patients not operated on before for ptosis, 50 eyelids were raised with 74% normalisation, 22% improvement, and one eyelid each that showed only slight change or overcorrection. In a group of patients with 27 eyelids operated on before using other techniques, 67% of the eyelids were normalised, 30% were improved, and only one eyelid showed no change. In conclusion, this new technique has proved to be quite successful in raising the level of the upper eyelid in congenital blepharoptosis, with results at least comparable to those of most other techniques. The advantages with the check ligament over other techniques are the minimal trauma of the surgery, its simplicity, and its repeatability.