Anatomy of conjunctiva explained in brief.! Reference- A.K.Khurana (Anatomy and Physiology of the Eye)

1. ANATOMY OF CONJUNCTIVA
BY
PRATHAMESH SHASANE
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2. CONJUNCTIVA:
•Thin transparent mucous membrane which lines
the posterior aspect of eyelids and anterior
aspect of the eyeball.
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3. PRATHAMESH SHASANE™ 3
Conjunctiva
Palpebral
Conjunctiva
Marginal Tarsal Orbital
Bulbar
Conjunctiva
Scleral Limbal
Conjunctival
Fornix

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PARTS OF
CONJUNCTIVA:

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Palpebral
Conjunctiva
Marginal
Tarsal
Orbital

6. MARGINAL CONJUNCTIVA:
•Extends from the lid margin to about 2mm on the
back of the lid upto a shallow groove – the sulcus
subtarsalis.
•Sulcus subtarsalis
• It’s the transitional zone between the skin and conjunctiva
proper.
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7. TARSAL CONJUNCTIVA:
•It is thin,tramsparent and highly vascular.
•It is firmly adherent to whole of the tarsus in upper
eyelid whereas only half in the lower eyelid.
•Meibomian glands appear as yellow streaks through
tarsal conjunctiva.
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8. ORBITAL CONJUNCTIVA:
•It lies loose between the tarsal plate and fornix.
•Orbital conjunctiva of upper lid is loose and lies over
the Muller’s muscle.
•Shallow grooves and elevations are called Stieda’s
plateaux and grooves.
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9. PRATHAMESH SHASANE™ 9
Bulbar
Conjunctiva
Scleral
Limbal

10. SCLERAL CONJUNCTIVA:
•Thin,transparent and lies loose over the underlying
structures and thus they can be moved easily.
•Subconjunctival vessels and the anterior ciliary
arteries forming pericorneal plexus can be seen in
loose tissue under the scleral part of bulbar
conjunctiva.
•Seperated from anterior sclera by epicleral tissue and
Tenon’s capsule.
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11. LIMBAL CONJUNCTIVA:
•It is a 3mm ridge of bulbar conjunctiva around the
cornea.
•Episcleral tissue,the conjunctiva and Tenon’s capsule
are fused into a dense tissue.
•Strongly adherent to the underlying corneo-scleral
junction.
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12. CONJUNCTIVAL FORNIX:
•It is circular cul-de-sac,which is broken only on medial
side by caruncle and plica semilunaris.
•It joins bulbar conjunctiva with palpebral
conjunctiva.Subdivided into superior,inferior,lateral
and medial respective of their position.
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13. CONJUNCTIVAL FORNIX:
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14. HISTOLOGICAL STRUCTURE
OF CONJUNCTIVA
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15. LAYERS OF CONJUNCTIVA:
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EPITHELIUM
ADENOID LAYER
FIBROUS LAYER

16. Conjunctiva Number of layers Cells in the layers
Marginal
5 layered non-keratinised stratified
squamous epithelium
Superficial layer: Squamous cells
Middle three layers: Polyhedral cells
Deepest layer: Cylindrical cells
Tarsal and Orbital
2 layers of Stratified cuboidal
epithelium
Superficial layer: Cylindrical cells
Deepest layer: cuboidal cells
Fornix and Scleral
3 layers of Stratified, squamous
epithelium
Superficial layer: Cylindrical cells
Middle layer: polyhedral cells
Deepest layer: Cuboidal cells
Limbal
10 layers of stratified squamous
epithelium
Superficial layer: squamous cells
Middle layer: polygonal cells
Basal- cubicalPRATHAMESH SHASANE™ 16

17. CELLS PRESENT IN EPITHELIUM:
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•GOBLET CELLS
•MELANOCYTES
•LANGERHANS CELLS
•CALT
•MALT

18. ADENOID LAYER:
•Also known as Lymphoid layer.
•It consists of fine connective tissue reticulum in
meshes of which lies lymphocytes.
•Most developed at fornices.
•Not present since birth;develops after 2-3 months of
life.
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19. FIBROUS LAYER:
•It consists of a meshwork of collagenous and elastic
fibres.
•Thicker than adenoid layer,except in the region of
tarsal conjunctiva;it is thinnest here.
•This layer contains vessels and nerves of conjunctiva.
•Blends with underlying Tenon’s capsule in the region
of bulbar conjunctiva. PRATHAMESH SHASANE™ 19

20. PRATHAMESH SHASANE™ 20
Mucin Glands
Goblet Cells
Henle’s
Glands
Glands of
Manz
Accessory
Lacrimal Glands
Glands of
Krause
Glands of
Wolfring
Rudimentary
A.L.G.

21. GOBLET CELLS:
•Unicellular,round and oval cells present abundantly in
conjunctival epithelium of all regions except marginal
and limbal conjunctiva.
•Formed in deepest layers of epithelium and then are
pushed upwards.
•They are destroyed after discharging their content;the
mucin.
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GOBLET CELL
DENSITY:
Numerous on the nasal side,
particularly in bulbar conjunctiva
and inferior fornix.
Density is high in children and
young adults.

23. HENLE’S GLANDS:
•Not true glands but are folds of mucous membrane
present in the papebral conjunctiva between tarsal
plate and fornices.
•Tubular structures with lumina of 15-30μm.
•Resembles Lieberkuhn’s cells in large intestine.
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24. GLANDS OF MANZ:
•Found in thelimbal conjunctiva.
•Arranged in ring, near the cornea
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MUCIN GLANDS:

26. GLANDS OF KRAUSE:
•Lie in deep sub - conjunctival tissue of the upper and
lower fornices
•42 in number in upper fornix and 6 to 8 in lower fornix
•In upper fornix they lie between the palpebral part of
the lacrimal gland and tarsal plate.
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27. GLANDS OF WOLFRING:
•Also called Glands of Ciaccio, larger than Glands of
Krause
•Situated in the upper border of the tarsus midway
between the end of the tarsal glands
•2 to 5 in the upper lid and 1-3 in the lower lid
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28. PRATHAMESH SHASANE™ 28
ACCESORY LACRIMAL GLANDS:

29. THE PLICA SEMILUNARIS:
•Pinkish crescentric fold of the conjunctiva,present in
medial canthus.
•Lateral free border is concave which becomes less
prominent on abduction but forms a cul-de-sac about
2mm in depth when eyeball is adducted.
•Vestigial in humans.
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30. THE PLICA SEMILUNARIS:
•Microscopic structure: Epithelium of this part of
conjunctiva consists of 8-10 layers of cells with many
goblet cells.
•Substantia propria is composed of loose connective
tissue containing numerous blood vessels,lobule of
fat,a few non striated muscle fibres and melaphores.
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31. THE CARUNCLE:
•Is small (5mm x 3mm),soft,ovoid,pinkish mass situated
in inner canthus,just medial to plica semilunaris.
•Actually a piece of modified skin and so is covered with
stratified squamous epithelium and contains sweat
glands,sebaceous glands and hair follicles.
•Blood supply through superior medial palpebral artery.
•Nerve supply is from inferior trochlear nerve.
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