Surgical correction of blepharoptosis in oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy.

Progressive, usually symmetric blepharoptosis with or without dysphagia appears in most instances in the fifth decade in oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD). We review our experience over 20 years of applying Beard's surgical guidelines for correction of ptosis to OPMD patients with satisfactory results. As the disease continues to progress, the rate of recurrence of ptosis among follow-up patients of a 9-year minimum period was 13%.