Hyaluronic Acid Gel Injection for Upper Eyelid Retraction in Thyroid Eye Disease

Hyaluronic Acid Gel Injection for Upper Eyelid Retraction in Thyroid Eye Disease: Functional and Dynamic High- Resolution Ultrasound Evaluation. A Prospective, Non-Randomized Study

Article specifications

This clinical trial was published in 2014 in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery (IF 2017:0.991) by American ophthalmologists. In this article functional and dynamic effects of hyaluronic acid (HA) gel injection into the levator plane for improving upper eyelid retraction in patients with thyroid eye disease (TED) was determined. Eight patients (4 in the active stage of TED, 4 in the inactive stage of TED) with symptomatic unilateral upper eyelid retraction participated in this study. Study participants underwent HA gel injection subconjunctivally into the levator plane and were examined before injection, 1 to 3 months after injection, and at the clinician’s discretion thereafter. At each of the time points, high-resolution ultrasound imaging and clinical photographs were taken, and the marginal reflex distance 1 (MRD1) was measured.

Results

The results of this study showed that Despite variability in the HA gel distribution and long-term conformational changes on ultrasound examination, HA injection may be an effective and minimally invasive method to improve upper eyelid position for patients with mild eyelid retraction in both the active and inactive stages of TED.