NATURAL FAT IN EXTERNAL EYE

Abstract

Human eyes [113] vital-stained by Sudan powder revealed that fat on the skin of outer canthus may pass onto the percorneal film (in 68%). The most reliable staining was obtained by application on the bulbar conjuctiva below the limbus cornea at 6 o''clock. In 41%, the precorneal film had stained drops or foam, with a tendency towards an increase among pathological cases (infectious conjunctivitis and blepharitis). An increased amount of fat was found in the mucous thread of eyes affected with infectious conjunctivitis and lagophthalmos. In a few pathological cases fat was detected on cornea, bulbar conjunctiva and inferior fornix. The fatty layer on the lower lid margin was stained more frequently and more intensely than that on the superior. The secretion of the meibomian glands was stained in no more than a scant 1/2 of the glands (on an average 44%), independently of age, sex, site and diagnosis.