title: The effect of age and gender on the anatomic structure of Caucasian healthy eyelids.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the normal values of the eyelid parameters in Caucasians and to describe the effects of age and gender on eyelid and eyebrow anatomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated the effects of age and gender on eyelid structures in 100 Caucasian volunteers in the Ophthalmology and Anatomy Departments, University of Gaziantep Medical School, Turkey between 2003 and 2004. Forty-five females with mean age of 36 years (5-80 years) and 55 males with mean age of 39 years (3-68 years) participated in the study. We divided subjects into 6 groups according to decades. We measured the palpebral fissure length (PFL), the distance between the pupil center and the upper eyelid (PC-UE) and lower eyelid margin (PC-LE), the eyebrow height (EH), the eye crease height (ECH) and the distance from the reference line to the pupil center (RL-PC), using a reference line through the medial canthus and vertical line through the pupil center of the frontal slides.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The measurements of PFL were between 23.5 mm and 29 mm in females, 24.8 mm and 29.1 mm in males and showed a gradual decrease with age. The PC-UE, PC-LE, ECH and RL-PC remained stable throughout life and were identical for both gender. However, EH ranging from 10.7-12 mm in females and 6.5-11 mm in males appeared to have a significant association with gender, which was higher in females than males, but was not effected with age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrate the importance of providing a normal anatomic relationship that relates to the patient's age and gender.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Gaziantep, Gaziantep, Turkey. erbagciibrahim@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Erbagci
authors.forename: Hulya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Erbagci
authors.forename: Nese
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kizilkan
authors.forename: Erdem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gumusburun
authors.forename: Necdet
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bekir
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005143:Eyelids / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012737:Sex Factors; D044465:White People