Abstract
Purpose: Aging changes of midface include drooping of lower lid, wrinkles of malar area, orbitomalar groove and deepening of nasolabial fold from drooping of malar fat pad. Improvement of lower lid can be achieved through lower blepharoplasty, but improvement of cheek can not be gained. Superficial subciliary cheek lift(by Moelleken, 1996) is a method that lifts malar fat pad through extended subciliary incision. We obtained simultaneous improvement of lower lid, malar wrinkles and orbitomalar groove with modification of this technique. Methods: From December 2003 to January 2006, we performed this method on 21 patients among volunteers for lower blepharoplasty who wanted to correct orbitomalar groove and malar wrinkles. Under local anesthesia, lateral extension of subciliary incision is done 1cm from the lateral orbital rim. Skin-muscle flap is elevated, and dealing of orbital fat and septum is the same as with ordinary lower blepharoplasty. After downward subcutaneous dissection through extended incision, exposing the upper 1/3 level of malar fat pad, superolateral fixation is done to superior deep temporal fascia. Excision of the upper part of fat pad is performed, if needed. After excision of overlapped skin-muscle flap, skin closure is done. Results: We obtained satisfactory results with this simple method for improvement of orbitomalar groove and malar wrinkles among patients for lower blepharoplasty. During a follow-up period of 5 months on the average, no revision was performed. Conclusion: Under local anesthesia, lower blepharoplasty and improvement of orbitomalar groove and malar wrinkles can be achieved at the same time. It is good for patients who do not want conventional midface-lifting. But surgeons should select patients and perform cautiously for it may leave a scar of the extended incision that require over 2 months for maturation and it is insufficient for improvement of nasolabial fold compared to conventional mid face-lifts.
