Lagophthalmos caused by cicatricial adhesion of orbital adipose tissue to orbital roof: A case report

PURPOSE: To report a case of lagophthalmos caused by cicatricial adhesion of orbital adipose tissue to the orbital roof. OBSERVATIONS: A 23-year-old female was presented with right lagophthalmos. Five months prior to consult at our clinic, she suffered from a penetrating trauma to the frontal lobe of the brain through the right orbital roof with cerebrospinal fluid leakage. Decompressive craniectomy was performed immediately after the injury using a coronal incision, which was followed by reconstruction with an artificial bone 1 month later. On examination at our clinic, she showed right exposure keratopathy with best corrected visual acuity of 20/100 due to corneal opacity. The palpebral contracted scar was first elongated using Z-plasty technique but excursion of the upper eyelid under a finger force assistance was insufficient to eliminate lagophthalmos. However, complete eyelid closure under a finger force assistance was achieved after sharp dissection of the cicatrized adipose tissue from the orbital roof. An autogenous dermis-fat was grafted on the orbital roof and superior orbital rim to avoid adhesion of orbital adipose tissue onto the bone again. CONCLUSION AND IMPORTANCE: Cicatricial adhesion of an orbital adipose tissue to the orbital roof is one of the possible causes of posttraumatic lagophthalmos in patients with an orbital roof fracture. Surgeons need to be aware of this condition in planning of surgical repair when such a fracture is encountered.