Epidemiology
Anophthalmia has been reported to be present in 3 out of every 100,000 births. Many instances of anophthalmia also occur with microphthalmia. A recent study in the UK indicated that anophthalmia and microphthalmia had a combined average of 1 in every 10,000 births. The annual rate of occurrence of anophthalmia/microphthalmia in the United States is about 780 children born/year. The most extensive epidemiological survey on this congenital malformation has been carried out by Dharmasena et al. and using English National Hospital Episode Statistics, they calculated the annual incidence of anophthalmia, microphthalmia and congenital malformations of orbit/lacrimal apparatus from 1999 to 2011. According to this study the incidence of congenital anophthalmia ranged from 2.4 (95% CI 1.3 to 4.0) per 100 000 infants in 1999 to 0.4 (0 to 1.3) in 2011. Parents that already have a child who suffers from anophthalmia has a 1 in 8 chance of having another child with anophthalmia. Approximately 2/3 of all cases of anophthalmia are determined to be of genetic basis. Anophthalmia is one of the leading causes of congenital blindness and accounts for 3-11% of blindness in children. Anophthalmia and microphthalmia together make up 1.7-1.8% of reconstructive surgical cases in laboratory of plastic surgery and ocular prostheses.
The conformer is changed every few weeks the first two years of life. After that, a painted prosthetic eye can be fitted for the childs socket. The prosthetic eye can be cleaned with mild baby soap and water. Rubbing alcohol should be avoided because it may damage the prosthetic eye. Children need to be checked regularly to ensure the fit and size is appropriate.A Cochrane Review published in 2016 asked the question would the type of material used to make the prosthetic eye affect the success of the operation? Prosthetic eyes can be made from two types of material; porous or non-porous material. "If the material is porous then the artificial eye can become integrated into the body because new blood vessels can grow into the material. If the material is non‐porous, then the artificial eye remains separate from the rest of the bodys tissue." After assessing three studies, the review concluded that there wasnt enough evidence to conclude which material was better. Cosmetic surgery
If the proper actions are not taken to expand the orbit, many physical deformities can appear. It is important that if these deformities do appear, that surgery is not done until at least the first two years of life. Many people get eye surgery, such as upper eyelid ptosis surgery and lower eyelid tightening. These surgeries can restore the function of the surrounding structures like the eyelid in order to create the best appearance possible. This is more common with people who have degenerative anophthalmia.