Investigation of goldmann perimetry in evaluation of patients for upper eyelid blepharoplasty

Purpose: To determine if preoperative Goldmann Visual Field (GVF) testing in patients with functional dermatochalasis accurately depicts the postoperative superior visual field (SVF) outcome.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was done to compare preoperative and postoperative GVF field tests in patients undergoing upper eyelid blepharoplasty for treatment of dermatochalasis. This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences institutional review board. A preoperative GVF was obtained with the eyelids in the natural position (untaped) and then again with excess skin elevated (taped). One month post-blepharoplasty, another GVF was conducted with eyelids untaped. The pre- and post GVF tests were analyzed to determine if preoperative testing accurately predicts the SVF improvement post-blepharoplasty.

Results: Forty-six eyelids (23 patients) who underwent blepharoplasty for dermatochalasis were included. The preoperative testing underestimated 76% (35/46) of cases by a mean of 61%; and overestimated the final outcome in 24% (11/46) of cases by mean of 23%. Overall, the preoperative GVF testing underestimated the postoperative outcome by a mean of 35%.

Conclusion: Improvement of the SVF after a blepharoplasty is typically greater than the preoperative GVF testing predicts.