RESEARCH ARTICLE
Histological Analysis of the Lower-Positioned Transverse Ligament
Takahashi Yasuhiro1, Kakizaki Hirohiko*, 2, Kinoshita Shinsuke2, Iwaki Masayoshi2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2007Volume: 1
First Page: 17
Last Page: 19
Publisher ID: TOOPHTJ-1-17
DOI: 10.2174/1874364100701010017
Article History:
Received Date: 17/10/2007Revision Received Date: 15/11/2007
Acceptance Date: 19/11/2007
Electronic publication date: 4/12/2007
Collection year: 2007

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The lower-positioned transverse ligament (LPTL) had been thought to run parallel to the junction between the orbital septum and the levator aponeurosis (junction). However, its true course was disclosed as crossing the junction. Since earlier histological studies were undertaken before the precise course was elucidated, it was uncertain whether the true LPTL was adequately disclosed. Therefore, we examined ten upper eyelids of 6 Asian patients who underwent blepharoptosis repairs. The LPTL and the tissue running parallel to the junction were harvested intraoperatively. Light-microscopically, the LPTL contained looser and thinner collagen bundles and less elastic fibres than the parallel tissue. Electron-microscopically, collagen microfibrils in the LPTL had almost the same periodicity and thickness as those in the parallel tissue. The LPTL is a loose and inelastic structure, which at a light microscopic level is completely different from the parallel tissue; however, the differences could not be verified by electron microscopy.