Craniofacial Disorders, Cleft Palate & Plastic Surgery

Providing innovative treatment for facial and skull disorders.

Small or absent eyes

Small or absent eyes is a rare condition, usually unilateral, that results from incomplete development of the eye or from incomplete development of the optic connection from the brain. When the eye is small, the condition is known as microphthalmos. If no eye is present, it is termed anophthalmos. When the eye is small or absent, the bony socket also fails to grow.

Problems that must be managed in children with small or absent eyes include:

• Enlargement of the bony orbit
• Widening of the eyelids
• Deepening of the recesses behind the eyelids
• Fitting and retention of an artificial eye

The treatment of children with small or absent eyes should be started in the first months of life to minimize secondary deformities due to collapse of the face around the missing or small eye. Placement of a tissue expander behind the missing or small eye can be used, in place of the normal eye growth, to enlarge the eye socket and prepare it for an artificial eye. When treatment is started later, craniofacial surgical techniques are used to widen the bony walls, and conformers are used to increase the eyelid space to hold an artificial eye. Rady Children's pediatric craniofacial plastic surgeons work with an experienced oculoplastic surgeon and ocularist to achieve the best results in children with small or absent eyes.

Small or Absent Eyes: Before and After