Eyelid complications in trachoma. I. Cicatricial entropion.

Trachoma is an infectious disease affecting the conjunctival membranes of the eye that results in scarring of the conjunctiva with secondary eyelid malformations and lacrimal pathology. Of the four eyelid complications secondary to trachoma--cicatricial entropion, eyelid retraction, secondary blepharospasm, and brow ptosis--by far, cicatricial entropion is the most common. One thousand two hundred patients with cicatricial entropion underwent surgery at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital between 1984 and 1988. The classification and management of these cases are discussed, emphasizing the various surgical techniques used.