Pediatric Ptosis
Ptosis is a condition where the upper eyelid droops down and obstructs vision. It can be present at birth or acquired later in life.
What Is Ptosis?
Ptosis (TOE-sis) is an eye condition that involves drooping of the upper eyelid(s). The eyelid may droop just a little, or enough to cover the pupil. Ptosis can prevent normal visual development and cause amblyopia (lazy eye). It can also block part of the visual field.
Congenital ptosis is when children are born with the upper eyelid(s) drooping. This is due to a weakness of one of the eyelid muscles, known as the levator muscle.
What Causes Ptosis?
This condition is usually not associated with any medical problem. It is usually an isolated muscle weakness. It can run in families. Ptosis can also develop due to medical problems or a structural problem of the eyelid. Your health care provider will screen for these problems when they do a complete eye exam.
Possible causes are:
- genetic: abnormalities such as syndromes
- chalazion (stye)
- nerve conditions (Horner’s syndrome, myasthenia gravis, strokes, migraine headaches and brain tumor)
- trauma
- allergies
How Is Ptosis Diagnosed?
A child noted to have drooping of an eyelid by the parent or health care provider should have a complete eye exam.
- Your child will have an eye exam to check visual development, focus, power and health of all structures.
- Some children with ptosis need glasses because the drooping lid can cause astigmatism (seeing a blurred, imperfect image).
- If the patient is old enough, we will try to test the peripheral vision (the outer edge of the field of vision).
How Is Ptosis Treated?
- glasses if indicated
- patching to the strong eye if the patient develops amblyopia
- surgery
- a complete eye exam will determine if ptosis is severe enough to need surgery to prevent amblyopia
- elective surgery can be done if parents are concerned about the look
When to Call the Health Care Provider
Call your child’s eye doctor if any of the following occurs:
- child is unable to close the eye all the way
- child has eye irritation or dryness
- child must lift their chin to see below a drooping eyelid.
Other Information
Write down all your questions as you think of them. Bring the list of questions with you when your child sees the eye doctor.
Helping Hands Patient Education Materials
Written and illustrated by medical, nursing and allied health professionals at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Helping Hand instructions are intended as a supplement to verbal instructions provided by a medical professional. The information is periodically reviewed and revised to reflect our current practice. However, Nationwide Children's Hospital is not responsible for any consequences resulting from the use or misuse of the information in the Helping Hands.
HH-I-503 | ©2021, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
