The Association between Refractive Errors and Congenital Ptosis

Abstract Background: Children with congenital ptosis need to be carefully assessed for refractive errors and visual function to identify and treat amblyopia which occurs in 20% of congenital ptosis, small amount of which is attributed to ptotic eyelid occluding the pupil. Objectives: The objective is to determine the frequency of refractive errors and its associations among children with congenital ptosis. Patients and Methods: Case–control study of 60 patients with congenital ptosis (79 eyes) and 60 patients without ptosis (control group) (72 eyes). Conducted in Ibn Al-Haithem Eye Teaching Hospital in Baghdad from April 2020 to May 2021. The main outcome measures were relative congenital ptosis, presence, and types of refractive errors. Results: Significant association was obtained between children with ptosis and average spherical and cylinder refractory error. Among 60 cases (79 eyes) of congenital ptosis, refractive errors were present in 26 eyes (32.9%) with the astigmatisms as the most common refractive errors (18.9%), followed by hypermetropia (8.9%) and myopia (5.1%). Conclusions: Children with congenital ptosis in our environment have greater refractive errors, early ophthalmic evaluation and timely treatment of these conditions may help prevent the irreversible visual impairment in case of congenital ptosis.