A transverse ligament located anterosuperiorly in the lower orbital fat space restricts lower eyelid retraction in the Mongoloid eye

• Published in: Journal of plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery Vol. 61; no. 6; pp. 603 - 609
• Main Authors: Tanaka, Y, Matsuo, K, Yuzuriha, S, Shinohara, H, Kikuchi, N, Moriizumi, T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adipose Tissue - anatomy & histology; Adult; Anterosuperior transverse ligament; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Biological and medical sciences; Blepharoplasty; Blinking - physiology; Eyelids - anatomy & histology; Eyelids - physiology; Female; Humans; Ligaments - anatomy & histology; Ligaments - physiology; Lockwood ligament; Lower eyelid; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mongoloid eye; Narrow palpebral fissure; Orbit - anatomy & histology; Plastic Surgery; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Anterosuperior transverse ligament; Narrow palpebral fissure; Lower eyelid; Lockwood ligament; Mongoloid eye; Retraction; Adipose tissue; Mongoloid; Transverse ligament; Orbit (eye); Eye; Treatment; Surgery
• ISSN: 1748-6815; 1878-0539
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bjps.2007.06.014

Summary We previously reported that a lower positioned transverse ligament, which was identified just above the fusional line between the orbital septum and the levator aponeurosis or anteroinferiorly in the upper orbital fat space, determines the lower position of the preaponeurotic fat, and restricts the upper eyelid retraction causing the external features that define the appearance of the Mongoloid eye. Because the narrow palpebral fissure of the Mongoloid eye is composed of the restricted upper eyelid and the restricted lower eyelid, we surmised that the ligamentous tissue, which is analogous to the lower positioned transverse ligament in the upper eyelid, might also exist in the lower eyelid.