Biomaterials for posterior eyelid reconstruction: our experience and suggestions.

We were greatly interested in the article by Rehman et al that reports an accurate systematic review and meta-analysis on the use of biomaterials in the reconstruction of posterior lamellar eyelid defects. [1] Rehman U, Shemie M, Sarwar MS, Adebayo O, Brennan PA. The use of biomaterials in the reconstruction of posterior lamellar eyelid defects: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2023 Jun 15:S0266-4356(23)00160-2. doi: 10.1016/j.bjoms.2023.06.001. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37400344. Google Scholar We would like to commend the authors on their choice to review a very unusual pathology and use an accurate meta-analysis. In our opinion, however, some critical aspects in their paper should be pointed out. The main gap present in the literature on this topic is represented by the poverty of the studies present and the data represented and by the lack of an objective and temporal follow-up evaluation of the success of the biomaterial: this gap unfortunately influences this well performed review and does not allows to report the health state of the patients and a proper follow-up. The authors report success of the biomaterials from 0 to 100%, reporting in Table 1 success 0 for two cases and 100% for all the reported cases, without the parameters used in the studies for success evaluation. The same lackness is reported for follow up, that goes from 0 to 60 months: a success at 0 month and a failure at 2 months are considered a success or not? The follow-up of the evaluated papers would have been helpful to include in the table 1. Further, due to the few articles present in the literature, the thickness and size of the defects, although they are very interesting for the readers, are not always present in the articles reported. Reply to letter to the editor: The use of biomaterials in the reconstruction of posterior lamellar eyelid defects: a systematic review and meta-analysisBritish Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeryPreviewDear Editor, Full-Text PDF