A new material for frontal sling operation in congenital ptosis

Congenital ptosis with poor levator function is mainly treated by frontalis suspension. Of all the different suspensory materials tried, autologous fascia lata has been found to offer the most advantages. After the new Gore-tex soft-tissue patch had been used successfully in lid, lacrimal and orbital surgery it was tried with the frontalis suspension technique. When using Gore-tex strips it is not necessary to obtain fascia lata, which is especially difficult in children. A tight connection between the upper lid and the frontalis muscle can be achieved by ingrowth of connective tissue into the PTFE suspensory material. The frontalis muscle then lifts the upper lid. In spite of this, complete lid closure is possible. The surgical results are very satisfactory and are presented in this paper.