Soft tissue augmentation with autologous fat graft is a popular
procedure in plastic surgery. Some surgeons usually graft more
than necessary amount of fat, because of possible absorption
of grafted fat. In case of upper eyelid, however, the volume of
grafted fat can increase with weight gain or survive for a long
time. The purpose of this report is to introduce our experiences
in excessive fat survival in upper eyelid and how to manage it.
From March 1999 to September 2006, we grafted autologous
fat to fifteen of thirty six patients during secondary blepharoplasty.
The fat graft was harvested from axilla. Follow-up ranged
from 3 months to 4 years. Some of them had excessive fat
survival in the upper eyelid after fat graft, therefore, a part of
the fat was removed for natural appearance. In case of upper
eyelid, the volume of grafted fat can increase with weight gain
or survive for a long period of time, therefore, surgeons have
to graft a minimum amount of fat without overcorrection and
correct excessive fat by removing part of it or by liposuction after
injection of hyaluronidase.