Introduction: Children presenting with congenital anophthalmos usually develop a smaller bony orbit, a constricted mucosal socket, and a shortened eyelid fissure. This causes problems when fitting these patients with a prosthesis. Clinical evaluation of the Wiese self-inflating hydrogel expanders has demonstrated their ability to expand the socket and eyelid fissure for inserting a more realistic prosthesis in shorter periods of time.
Patients and method: The study included 13 consecutive anophthalmic patients, eight unilateral and five bilateral. Each patient received a hemispherical osmotic tissue expander in the rudimentary mucosal socket and later a sphere implanted in the deeper soft orbital tissue.
Results: The use of hydrogel expanders enlarged the lid and palpebral fissure in all children, with good cosmetic results. It allowed insertion of custom-made glass prostheses with good cosmetic appearance very early in life. Growth of the bony orbit may be stimulated successfully by these expanders in the soft orbital tissue.
Conclusions: The enlargement of constricted mucosal sockets and short palpebral fissures using self-inflating hydrogel expanders is a new and successful concept in treating congenital anophthalmos.