Congenital Ptosis

Treatment of Ptosis

When to treat

The primary indications for treatment of any form of congenital ptosis are amblyopia and abnormal head positioning. In the setting of severe unilateral ptosis, the ptotic lid position can be very amblyogenic, and early surgery is advised. Severe bilateral (or unilateral) ptosis can cause a patient to assume an obvious chin-up head position that can interfere with the child's normal functioning. If neither of these two issues is at play, the correction of ptosis can be delayed until the patient is old enough to have the surgery performed with only local anesthesia, as this makes intraoperative adjustments possible.

If a patient with ptosis also requires strabismus surgery, operating on the vertical muscles can alter the eyelid position. Therefore, ptosis surgery is often deferred until after the strabismus has been corrected.