Long-term follow-up study of browlift for treatment of facial paralysis.

Browlift for patients with irreversible paralysis of the frontalis muscle was evaluated in a review of 40 patients who had undergone follow-up studies for durations of more than 3 years. The procedure consists of a lazy S-shaped excision above the upper border of the eyebrow and upward fixation of the lower skin margin. The results were as follows: (1) The percentage of patients for whom symmetrical positioning of the eyebrow was achieved was 65%. (2) The greater the preoperative severity of ptosis, the more often did recurrence occur. (3) Recurrence progressed rapidly during the first postoperative year, but thereafter recurrence was seen only in those patients in whom the affected eyebrow was still in a position higher than its counterpart. (4) No relationship could be seen between age at the time of surgery and postoperative position of eyebrow. (5) Improvement in contraction of the visual field was seen in 85% of patients postoperatively, and complaints were eliminated in 50%. (6) Careful preservation of the sensory nerve is required. (7) The postoperative scar was acceptable. This procedure is a simple and effective method of correction of paralytic ptosis. Although a degree of skill is required to obtain satisfactory results and a surgical scar remains at the upper border of the eyebrow, the advantages of the procedure surpass its disadvantages. It is believed that this method should be used more often in the treatment of facial paralysis.