Men over 60 at Greatest Entropion Risk

Aging-related eyelid changes highlight how involutional entropion disproportionately affects certain patient populations. Photo: Brent Murphy, MD. Click image to enlarge. Patients affected by involutional entropion at the highest rates are primarily male, over 60 and experience the condition unilaterally rather than bilaterally in the right eye, researchers recently concluded.A 19-year St. Louis study reasserted the well-known clinical fact that involutional entropion grows more severe with age, as well as that it occurs more often (63%) in the right eye than the left. The researchers concluded that occurrence of entropion was more common in men, who comprised 63% of recurring entropion cases in their sample—notably, previous research discussed in the paper has determined that “there appears to be a predisposition for men to develop entropion” more often than women. The authors also noted that the condition is more prevalent among white patients than people of color but acknowledged that the study’s most significant limitation is its employment of a mostly (93.8%) white patient cohort.A total of 481 participants underwent a combined total of 519 reparative treatment procedures. Of these, 1.7% of patients were under the age of 60, 93.8% were white, and 53.3% were male. Surgical procedures addressed 93 incidents of bilateral entropion, 182 in only the left eye, and 244 in only the right eye. While one standard surgical technique was used with minor adjustments as needed for individual patients, the authors noted that “[m]ost included a lateral tarsal strip and posterior retractor attachment.”A small number of individual patients “required minor postoperative interventions,” the authors mentioned, including 15 eyelids requiring epilation of the eyelashes and nine eyelids requiring removal of sutures that they received during their surgeries. Others included “a transient dellen from chemosis” and “sustained a cornea abrasion when applying ointment.”Given the potential involutionary entropion creates for future eye disease, it’s important to understand what demographics are most affected to it, why this is so, and how best to prevent and address the condition to improve patients’ vision and quality of life. Click here for the journal source. Custer P, Huecker, J. Involutional entropion: demographics, presenting findings, surgical management. Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg. January 12, 2026. [Epub ahead of print]. This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.