Microscopic characteristics of lower eyelid retractors in Koreans

To identify the microscopic characteristics of lower eyelid retractors in Korean individuals and to elucidate age-related changes in lower eyelid retractors.

Eighteen Korean lower eyelids from formalin-fixed cadavers were stained with Masson's trichrome. Specimens were divided into two groups based on age at death (group A, ≤65 years; group B, >65 years), and the microscopic findings were analyzed and compared by light microscopy.

The capsulopalpebral fascia (CPF) had distinct junctions and no fusion with orbital septum in 14 eyelids (77.8%). The CPF was fused with the orbital septum in only two eyelids (11.1%). Although not significant, the inferior tarsal muscle was closer to the tarsus in group A (1.24 ± 0.71 mm) than group B (2.14 ± 1.18 mm, p = 0.07), and the tarsal height tended to be longer in group B (4.71 ± 0.55 mm) than group A (4.16 ± 1.01 mm, p = 0.20). Tarsal fatty infiltration was more evident in group B.

The CPF was rarely fused with the orbital septum in our sample of Korean lower eyelids. Although we did not identify any remarkable age-related changes in lower eyelid structures, there was a tendency for the lower retractor to loosen from the tarsus and for increased fatty infiltration in the lower eyelids from elderly individuals.