Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026
Isolation of Intact Eyeball to Obtain Integral Ocular Surface Tissue for Histological Examination and Immunohistochemistry
Published on: October 20, 2019
Eyelid closure at death
1Department of Palliative Care, Nurse Maude Hospice, 15 Mansfield Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Aim:
To observe the incidence of full or partial eyelid closure at death.
Materials And Methods:
The presence of ptosis was recorded in 100 consecutive hospice patient deaths.
Results:
Majority (63%) of the patients died with their eyes fully closed, however, 37% had bilateral ptosis at death, with incomplete eye closure. In this study, central nervous system tumor involvement and/or acute hepatic encephalopathy appeared to be pre-mortem risk factors of bilateral ptosis at death.
Conclusion:
Organicity and not psychogenicity is, therefore, the likely etiology of failure of full eyelid closure at death.
Related Concept Videos
01:17Accessory Structures of the Eye
01:28Angle Closure Glaucoma: Treatment
01:25Glaucoma: Overview