Association Between Eyelid Swelling and Refractive Error of the Eye

Abstract

Purpose

To study the association between localized inflammatory swellings of the eyelid and refractive error in the outpatients of the ophthalmic department in a tertiary care hospital

Methods

A retrospective, cross sectional, observational study that included patients aged 5 to 39 years of age with various unilateral localized eyelid swellings whose refractory status was assessed.

Results

Overall, 100 eyelids from 100 eyes of 100 patients were studied. The study population comprised of 54 males and 46 females, with mean age of 25.12 ± 9.2 (Range 6-39). The lesions studied included blepharitis (17%), chalazion (43%), hordeolum internum (32%) and hordeolum externum (8%). The lesion was present on the upper eyelid in 44% and lower eyelid in 56% of the patients respectively. The location of the lesion was nasal in 31%, middle in 19%, temporal in 30% and whole eyelid in 20% of the cases. The size of the swelling ranged through small (35%), medium (42%) and large (23%). Mean refractive error (in diopters) of the spherical equivalent was -0.29 ± 0.412 and cylindrical equivalent was -0.3575 ± 0.487. These parameters were studied against the refractive error of the eyelid. For all cases, p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. This implied that swellings of larger sizes in the middle or central areas of upper eyelids have an increased chance of resulting in refractive errors than other subtypes. 

Conclusion

Larger swellings in the middle/central, upper eyelid have higher risks of resulting in refractive errors. Hence, they must be treated promptly and adequately.