Upper tarsal plate

Tarsus superior

Sensory (eye & ear)Fat & fasciaHeadLeft and right

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What it is

A plate of dense fibrous tissue that forms the skeleton of the upper lid, D-shaped and tallest in the middle. About 25-30 tall meibomian glands lie embedded in it vertically.

Function

Keeps the lid stiff and curved to fit the globe; its glands secrete the oily layer of the tear film.

Size

~29 mm long, 10 mm tall centrally, 1 mm thick.

Clinical note

A blocked meibomian gland forms a chalazion, a painless lump in the tarsus; everting the upper lid over the tarsus is how foreign bodies are found.