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Ptosis Causes and Risks:
Causes of drooping eyelid (ptosis) may be the normal aging process, a congenital abnormality, or the result of an injury or disease. Risk factors include aging, diabetes , stroke , Horner's syndrome , myasthenia gravis , brain tumor , or cancer , which can affect nerve or muscle response.
Prevention:
Prevention is related to the causes and risk factors. Many cases are not preventable.
Symptoms:
Signs and Tests:
Treatment:
Surgical correction which involves an operation to strengthen the muscle of the eyelid may be indicated. Correction of drooping eyelid in children may be necessary to prevent amblyopia . Treatment of the cause of general health problems such as myasthenia gravis , stroke and diabetes may relieve the problem.
Prognosis:
The expected outcome depends upon the cause; it is usually good if the causative disorder can be treated.
Complications:
- if uncorrected in children, may result in amblyopia ( lazy eye )
- if significant, may obscure vision
Call Your Healthcare Provider:
Call for an appointment with your health care provider if symptoms do not improve with treatment or new symptoms develop.
This is an illustration of a cross-section and frontal view of the eye.
Drooping of the eyelid is called ptosis. Ptosis may result from damage to the nerve that controls the muscles of the eyelid, problems with the muscle strength (as in myasthenia gravis), or from swelling of the lid.
Facial paralysis (palsy) may be associated with Lyme disease. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Andrea Kiesk M.D., Marquette Clinic, Marquette, MI.)
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