Alterations in corneal epithelial thickness in patients with congenital myogenic eyelid ptosis

Purpose To evaluate whether the corneal epithelial thickness (CET) maps obtained by optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the congenital myogenic eyelid ptosis differ from controls. Methods CET maps of 13 patients with congenital myogenic eyelid ptosis (m/f = 9/4; mean age 20.5 +/- 7.5) and randomly selected one eye of 13 controls (m/f = 7/6; mean age 21.5 +/- 6.5) were investigated. Three pachymetry scans of each eye were performed by OCT (RTVue-XR, Optovue Inc., USA), and the scan with the highest signal strength index was selected for the analysis. Results In ptosis group: Minimum corneal epithelial thickness was thinner (p = 0.029), standard deviation of thickness was higher (p = 0.039), the negative of min-max values were higher (p = 0.007). This difference was originating from the significant thinness of the superior sectors (S, SN, ST) of the corneal epithelium than the inferior counterparts (I, IT, IN) (p = 0.001, p = 0.017, p = 0.002), respectively. There was no difference regarding total corneal thickness measurements. Conclusions The mechanic effects of ptotic eyelid to the ocular surface may reshape the corneal epithelium, which can be objectively detected by OCT.