Upper Eyelid Mycobacterial Infection Following Oriental Blepharoplasty in a Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patient

Abstract.

Bilateral upper blepharoplasty for the Oriental eyelid was performed in a 20-year-old female on antituberculous therapy for 3 months. The postoperative course was smooth and the patient was back to normal life. But unfortunately, at 3 months after the upper blepharoplasty, a spherical tumescence and red granuloma developed over the right upper eyelid. The granuloma was resected, and on pathological examination the specimen revealed epitheloid granuloma with Langhan's giant cells and a few acid-fast positive bacilli. The clinical events and pathological findings were suggestive of Mycobacterium tuberculosis rather than Mycobacterium chelonei as the possible cause of infection. Thus the patient was advised to continue antituberculous therapy and no antibiotic was prescribed. The eyelid swelling resolved gradually and was completely normal at the end of antituberculous therapy. Though it has been suggested that aesthetic surgery can be performed safely 3 months after antituberculous therapy in a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis, the remote risk of such a complication is always a possibility.