Unilateral Anophthalmic Socket Reconstruction With Dermis Fat Graft

Cureus. 2021 Oct 17;13(10):e18834. doi: 10.7759/cureus.18834. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Abstract

A 15-year-old girl presented with the complaint of a cosmetically disfigured right eye since birth. The initial assessment was carried out by way of a history and physical examination. The patient's history revealed no significant findings. Physical examination revealed that the right ophthalmic socket was seemingly devoid of an identifiable globe and ocular tissue, which is described as an anophthalmic socket. The conjunctival fornices appeared short, a finding which was more noticeable in the inferior conjunctival fornix. The patient's orbital volume was decreased. To increase the orbital volume, a dermis fat graft (DFG) was carefully taken from the gluteal region. The graft was then transposed to the anophthalmic socket and sutured to the conjunctiva and Tenon's capsule. A prosthetic eye was placed in the socket. Later, a second surgical intervention was performed to deepen the inferior fornix, for which a mucous membrane graft was taken from the lower lip. As a result of these interventions, all cosmetic and medical concerns of the patient regarding the anophthalmic socket were addressed. The success of this procedure speaks to the efficacy of DFGs in the repair of an anophthalmic socket.

Keywords: conjunctival insufficiency; cosmetic; decreased orbital volume; dermis fat graft; isolated anophthalmia; mucous membrane graft; orbital volume; prosthetic eye; reconstruction; unilateral anophthalmia.

Publication types

  • Case Reports