Subbrow Blepharoplasty for Upper Eyelid Rejuvenation in Asians
Accepted 11 February 2009.
Background
Classical blepharoplasty removes supratarsal upper eyelid skin rather than subbrow skin. It does not adequately address the redundant skin of lateral hooding. Asians tend to have higher eyebrows than whites. For Asian women who have tattooed eyebrows with redundant upper lateral eyelid skin and who request a rejuvenating upper eyelid procedure, subbrow blepharoplasty (SBB) is an additional option to consider.
Objective
This study evaluated the role of a less commonly employed blepharoplasty technique in rejuvenating the upper eyelid in carefully selected patients. The value of this technique was judged by patient-reported ratings.
Methods
This was a prospective study. Patients presenting to our clinic between January 1997 and September 2008 for the excision of redundant upper eyelid skin were interviewed and examined for suitability for SBB. In this 11-year period, 804 patients underwent upper blepharoplasty. Of these patients, 101 (12.6%) were deemed suitable and were selected for SBB. Criteria for inclusion into the study were those who had dermatochalasis of the upper eyelids with lateral hooding.
Results
The aesthetic improvements were judged by the patients' subjective impressions (either satisfactory or unsatisfactory). All ratings were collected at four weeks postsurgery. Ninety-two patients (91.1%) rated their results as satisfactory, and nine patients (8.9%) rated their results as unsatisfactory.
Conclusions
SBB is a useful operation to rejuvenate the upper eyelids in selected patients while maintaining harmony with their ethnic facial features. This refinement overcomes some of the shortcomings of other upper blepharoplasty methods employed for the same purpose.
Reprint requests: Daniel Lee, FRCSEd, Bank of America Tower, Rm. 506, 12 Harcourt Rd. Central, Hong Kong
Presented in part at the 6th International Congress of Oriental Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, December 6–9, 1998, Hong Kong; The University of Hong Kong, Department of Surgery Head and Neck Course 2005, June 2–3, 2005, Hong Kong; the Conjoint Annual Scientific Congress 2008, May 13–16, 2008, Hong Kong; and The First World Congress for Plastic Surgeons of Chinese Descent, October 10–12, 2008, Beijing, China.
DISCLOSURES
The authors have no financial interest in and received no compensation from manufacturers of products mentioned in this article.
1 Drs. Lee and Law are plastic surgeons in private practice in Hong Kong.
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