Acellular dermal graft (AlloDerm) for upper eyelid reconstruction after cancer removal

Purpose: To report the use of AlloDerm for reconstruction of large upper eyelid defects in cancer patients. Methods: The clinical records of all patients who had AlloDerm as part of their upper eyelid reconstruction between July 2005 and July 2006 at a single institution were reviewed. Functional and cosmetic outcomes and postoperative complications were assessed. Results: Two patients had recurrent sebaceous gland carcinoma, 2 had melanoma, and 1 had squamous cell carcinoma. The upper eyelid defect involved the full thickness and entire width of the upper eyelid in 4 patients and full thickness and two thirds of the upper eye eyelid in 1 patient. The reconstructive procedure included a modified Cutler-Beard procedure using AlloDerm as the posterior lamellar sandwich graft in all 5 patients. One patient had early postoperative adjuvant radiation therapy to the upper eyelid. Three patients had excellent functional and cosmetic outcome; 2 patients had satisfactory outcomes. Two patients had residual exposure keratopathy. Allergic reaction to AlloDerm, infectious transmission, and immunologic rejection were not encountered at the time of this report (mean follow-up time = 13 months). Conclusions: AlloDerm can be used as an alternative sandwich graft material to replace the tarsus for reconstruction of large upper eyelid defects using a modified Cutler-Beard procedure.