The Individualized Facelift Technique in Improving Facial Asymmetry for Asian Patients.

[PURPOSE] Among multiple influential factors affecting facial symmetry, the role of soft tissue is often overlooked. Skin and skeletal differences between Asian and Caucasian people also require the adaptation of current techniques for Asian patients. This article aimed to explore the ability of individual facelift techniques to improve facial symmetry and reset youthful eye in Asian people, while a new method, called the grid method, was tried to evaluate the improvement in facial symmetry.

[METHODS] The authors conducted a review of 58 consecutive facelifts, which were all performed by a single surgeon between April 2009 and December 2016 following institutional review board approval. Among them, 21 patients underwent lower eyelid blepharoplasty. The original frontal photograph of each patient was evaluated by the grid method. Five independent plastic surgeons reviewed the facial asymmetry of the images before and after the operations using a visual analog scale to analyze the facial asymmetry of the patients.

[RESULTS] In the preoperative group evaluated by the grid, the mean facial asymmetry score was 4.11, while in the postoperative group, the mean score was 1.07, which was significantly lower than the mean score before the operation (p < 0.001). The change in mean scores illustrated that the technique was effective in improving facial symmetry in Asian people. A total of 8 patients experienced hematomas and recovered well without obvious sequelae.

[CONCLUSIONS] The individual facelift technique was effective for improving facial symmetry and reshaping youthful eye in Asian people.