Lecture 2 Flashcards


The orbit
The orbit is developed around the eye. It is roughly the shape of a quadrilatereal pyramid. The apex is at the optic foramen (optic nerve), and the base at the orbital margins.
Conditions affecting the orbit
- Any large mass in the orbit will cause protrusion or displacement of the eye = proptosis
- Swelling of orbit contents (muscle) such as in thyroid eye disease will also cause proptosis (exophthalmos)
Orbital bone fractures: Blow-out fractures
- Outward signs of haeorrhage
- Have to avoid a hit to the eye
- Orbital fat and EOM can become entrapped in the fracture.
Foramen, fissure for nerve and blood vessel
The optic foramen
The optic foramen facilitates for the optic nerve, ophthalmic artery, central retinal vein which traveks within the optic nerve out of the eye.
Which muscles are connected to movement of the eyelids?
- Levator palpebrae
- Orbicularis Oculi
General structure of the eyelids
- The lid is a mobile and complex structure
- The structure of the lids including the tarsal plates and muscles causes characteristics folds and furow
- Caruncle = modified skin
Eyelids- Tarsal plates
- Two thin plates
- One in upper and lower lid
- Dense connective tissue
- Provide structure to the lids
Levator palpebral
- The Levator palpebral lifts the upper lid
- Starts from the sphenoid bone
- Runs horizontally forwards
- Lies between the superior rectus (an EOM) and the roof of the orbit
- At its end, the muscle fans out into a wide aponeurosis
- It passes into the tarsal plate of the upper eyelid.
The lower lid
- There is close association with the inferior oblique muscle
Orbicularis Oculi
- Has 3 parts: orbital, palpebral & lacrimal
- The orbital part is the largest
- It extends onto the face some distance beyond the orbital rim
- Some upper fibres are inserted into the eyebrow
- These depress the eyebrow
- The fibres of the muscle pass around the orbit in concentric loops
- The palpebral portion is the central part & is confined to the eyelids
Ptosis
- Droopy eyelid
- Can be congenital due to absence or poor levator function
- On down-gaze the levator may not relax and so the lid is ‘thethered’ up
- Can also be a sign of paralysis (3rd nerve)
Entropion
- Entropion is the turning in or inversion of the lid
- Also turns the eyelashes towards the eye - watery eye
- Over time can cause scarring of the cornea, therefore visual impairment
Ectropion
- Ectropion is the turning out or eversion of the lid, usually the lower lid
- Causes the eye to ‘weep’
- Can cause dry eye
- Congenital
- More common with age
Function of eyelids
Protection
- From injury, startle reflex
- From light, help regulate light into the eye
- When closed, brain can rest
Essential for the flow of tears
- Assist secretion of tears
- Spread teards across eye, blink reflex
- Assists the removal of tears from the eye
- Vital to moisture and nourish the cornea