Surgical treatment of relapsed Marcus Gunn syndrome: a case report and literature review

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

Marcus Gunn syndrome is a rare and little known congenital ptosis of neurogenic origin. Its physiopathological mechanism has not been clarified. The authors report a case of pronounced ptosis that relapsed after four surgical corrections, along with a brief literature review.

Case report:

A 19-year-old young adult underwent four surgical corrections of the right palpebral ptosis in other services, without a definite diagnosis of the origin of the congenital ptosis. The patient showed eyelid opening in the right eye on opening the mouth, when the eye is lateralized to the ipsilateral side, and with contralateral eye closure. The last surgery was performed 2 years prior, during which silicone bands were placed and fixated. The patient did not present any visual or neurological deficit. He underwent surgery in order to remove the silicone bands that were previously placed, to prepare the strip grafts made of fibrous connective tissue from the fascia lata of the right inferior limb, and to perform myectomy of the levator muscle of the palpebral ptosis, fixation of the fascia lata grafts at the upper edge of the tarsus with traction and fixation to the ipsilateral frontal muscle. The patient progressed with synchronic movements of the eyelids bilaterally, and without relapse of the ptosis until the present date.

Keywords:
Marcus-Gunn; Palpebral ptosis; Frontal fixation