Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Palpebral Conjunctiva

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology

  • 177 Accesses

Synonyms

Conjunctiva; Tarsal conjunctiva

Definition

The conjunctiva is a mucous membrane that can be divided into three anatomical subdivisions: (1) palpebral, (2) forniceal, and (3) bulbar. The palpebral conjunctiva is firmly attached to both the upper and lower tarsi; however it is more firmly attached to the upper tarsus.

Structure

The palpebral conjunctiva begins at the posterior third of the meibomian gland openings of each eyelid. At this mucocutaneous junction, the cells change from a keratinized stratified squamous epithelium of the skin to a nonkeratinized stratified squamous epithelium of the marginal conjunctiva. Nasally, this mucocutaneous junction is where the conjunctiva connects to the lacrimal puncta (Figs. 1 and 2).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Colored slit-lamp photograph of right lower eyelid. (1) Mucocutaneous junction, (2) lacrimal punctum, (3) subtarsal groove, (4) tarsal conjunctiva, (5) forniceal conjunctiva, (6) bulbar conjunctiva, and (7) contact lens on limbus

Full size image

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Further Reading

  • Greiner JV, Covington HI, Allansmith MR (1977) Surface morphology of the human upper tarsal conjunctiva. Am J Ophthalmol 83:892–905

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kessing SV (1968) Mucous gland system of the conjunctiva. A quantitative normal anatomical study. Acta Ophthalmol (Copenh) Suppl 95:91

    Google Scholar 

  • Knop N, Knop E (2000) Conjunctiva-associated lymphoid tissue in the human eye. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 41(6):1270–1279

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wei ZG, Cotsarelis G, Sun TT, Lavker RM (1995) Label-retaining cells are preferentially located in fornical epithelium: implications on conjunctival epithelial homeostasis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 36:236–246

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wei A, Hong J, Sun X, Xu J (2011) Evaluation of age-related changes in human palpebral conjunctiva and meibomian glands by in vivo confocal microscopy. Cornea 30(9):1007–1012

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Radha Ram & Matthew B. Goren

Authors
  1. Radha Ram
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthew B. Goren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Radha Ram .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Medical University of Wien Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Wien, Austria

    Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main Department of Ophthalmology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Thomas Kohnen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Ram, R., Goren, M.B. (2014). Palpebral Conjunctiva. In: Schmidt-Erfurth, U., Kohnen, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_845-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_845-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35951-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation