Rhinoplasty in a blind patient

Abstract

Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited, degenerative eye disease that causes severe vision impairment due to progressive degeneration of the rod photoreceptor cells in the retina. Nasal deformities are known to attract attention, result in stigmatization, and negatively affect a person's self-perception. Cosmetic surgical management of blind patients is a broad undertaking, requiring the involvement of both a plastic surgeon and a psychologist. While plastic surgeons have performed various reconstructive surgeries on blind patients, including mammoplasty and abdominoplasty, rhinoplasty for a blind patient has not been reported to date. The results of this study point to the positive psychosocial outcomes in a 33-year-old blind patient following rhinoplasty.

Keywords

• Cosmetic surgery in blind patients
• retinitis pigmentosa
• rhinoplasty