Krause's glands

Krause's glands are small, mucous accessory lacrimal glands that are found underneath the eyelid where the upper and lower conjuctivae meet. Their ducts unite into a rather long sinus which open into the fornix conjunctiva. There are approximately forty Krause glands in the region of the upper eyelid, and around 6 to 8 in the region of the lower lid. The function of these glands are to produce tears which are secreted onto the surface of the conjuctiva.

There are rare instances of tumors associated with Krause's glands. They usually occur as retention cysts in cicatricial conditions of the conjunctiva. Krause's glands are named after German anatomist Karl Friedrich Theodor Krause (1797–1868).

References

The orbit of the eye

Bones	Frontal bone Zygomatic bone Maxillary bone Sphenoid bone Ethmoid bone Palatine bone Lacrimal bone

Muscles	Superior rectus muscle Inferior rectus muscle Lateral rectus muscle Medial rectus muscle Superior oblique muscle Trochlea of superior oblique Inferior oblique muscle

Eyelid	Levator palpebrae superioris muscle Tarsus Medial palpebral ligament Epicanthic fold Meibomian gland Ciliary glands Eyelash Palpebral fissure Canthus Gland of Zeis

Lacrimal apparatus	Krause's glands Lacrimal canaliculi Lacrimal caruncle Lacrimal gland Lacrimal lake Lacrimal papilla Lacrimal punctum Lacrimal sac Nasolacrimal duct

Other	Eyebrow Conjunctiva Plica semilunaris Orbital septum Periorbita Suspensory ligament of eyeball Tenon's capsule

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/28/2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Krause's glands

See also

References