[Surgical treatment of severe lower lid ectropion with a transplant of skin and perichondrium].

A surgical procedure is described for severe ectropions of the lower lid which cannot be treated successfully by conservative measures or minor surgery. This technique, employing a perichondrocutaneous graft, is superior to traditional methods in terms of both the functional and esthetic results. The composite graft is obtained from the anterior surface of the auricular choncha. In about 50% of the patients the postoperative biopsy showed a chondrogenic activity of the transplanted perichondrium substituting the tarsus. In the other cases, though no cartilaginous growth was noted, there was an intense proliferation of collagen fibers stabilizing the lid and the tarsal region. This procedure leads to both functional and natural esthetic rehabilitation and satisfies the criteria which techniques in plastic surgery have to meet today.