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Published on: July 28, 2018
Medial pretarsal adipose tissue in the Asian upper eyelid
Sunny Shen1, Rajendran Kanagasuntheram, Kee Siew Fong
1Singapore National Eye Centre, Department of Anatomy, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Purpose:
To report the presence of a localized pad of adipose tissue in the medial anterior tarsal surface of the Asian upper eyelid.
Methods:
Clinicohistologic case series. The presence and extent of a localized pad of adipose tissue in the medial pretarsal area were documented: 1) intraoperatively for 51 consecutive upper eyelid surgeries; and 2) in the histologic study of 10 cadaveric upper eyelid specimens.
Results:
Medial pretarsal adipose tissue, ranging from 5 mm to 22 mm in size, was consistently found in all clinical patients regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or underlying pathology. Histologic examination of the cadaveric specimens confirmed the presence of a localized pad of adipose tissue on the anterior surface of the superior tarsus medially.
Conclusions:
The presence of a localized pad of adipose tissue on the anterior surface of the medial superior tarsus seems to be a consistent finding in Asians.
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