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Human orbital muscle in adult cadavers and near-term fetuses: its bony attachments and individual variation identified by immunohistochemistry

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Abstract

Purpose

To compare fetal and adult morphologies of the orbital muscle (OM) and to describe the detailed topographical anatomy in adults.

Methods

Using unilateral orbits from 15 near-term fetuses and 21 elderly cadavers, semiserial horizontal or sagittal paraffin sections were prepared at intervals of 20–100 µm. In addition to routine histology, we performed immunohistochemistry for smooth muscle actin.

Results

At near term, the OM consistently extended widely from the zygomatic bone or the greater wing of the sphenoid to the maxilla or ethmoid. Thus, it was a large sheet covering the future inferior orbital fissure. In contrast, the adult OM was a thin and small muscle bundle connecting (1) the greater wing of the sphenoid to the maxilla (11/19 cadavers), (2) the lesser wing of the sphenoid to the maxilla (5/19) or the greater wing (3/19). The small OM was likely to be restricted within the greater wing (5/19 cadavers) or the maxilla (3/19). Two of these five types of OM coexisted in eight orbits. OM attachment to the lesser wing was not seen in fetuses, whereas ethmoid attachment was absent in adults.

Conclusions

The lesser wing attachment of the OM seemed to establish after birth. A growing common origin of the three recti was likely involved in “stealing” the near-term OM attachment from the ethmoid. The strong immunoreactivity of remnant-like OM in the elderly suggests that OM contraction is still likely to occur against the increased flow through a thin vein. However, the contraction might have no clinical significance.

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Abbreviations

Ala maj:

Greater wing of the sphenoid bone

Ala min:

Lesser wing of the sphenoid bone

ETH :

Ethmoid bone

FB :

Frontal bone

IO :

Inferior obliquus muscle

ION :

Infraorbital nerve

IR :

Inferior rectus muscle

LR :

Lateral rectus muscle

MCF :

Middle cranial fossa

MX :

Maxilla

OM :

Orbital muscle

PPG:

Pterygopalatine ganglion

PT :

Pterygoid process

SP :

Sphenoid bone

TM :

Temporalis muscle

V1 :

Ophthalmic nerve

V2 :

Maxillary nerve

V3 :

Mandibular nerve

ZY :

Zygomatic bone

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Wonkwang University in 2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Institute of Wonkwang Medical Science, Wonkwang University School of Medicine and Hospital, 895, Muwang-ro, Iksan-si, Jeollabuk-do, 54538, Republic of Korea

    Kwang Ho Cho

  2. Department of Anatomy, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China

    Zhe Wu Jin

  3. Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo, Japan

    Shinichi Umeki, Masahito Yamamoto, Gen Murakami & Shin-ichi Abe

  4. Division of Internal Medicine, Cupid Clinic, Iwamizawa, Japan

    Gen Murakami

  5. Department of Anatomy and Embryology, School of Medicine, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain

    José Francisco Rodríguez-Vázquez

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  1. Kwang Ho Cho
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  7. José Francisco Rodríguez-Vázquez
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Contributions

KC: conceptualization and manuscript writing, ZJ: formal analysis and investigation, SU: methodology and literature research, MY: data collection and conceptualization. GM: conceptualization and manuscript writing. SA: management and conceptualization. JV: conceptualization and data collection.

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Correspondence to Kwang Ho Cho.

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Cho, K.H., Jin, Z.W., Umeki, S. et al. Human orbital muscle in adult cadavers and near-term fetuses: its bony attachments and individual variation identified by immunohistochemistry. Surg Radiol Anat 43, 1813–1821 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-021-02819-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-021-02819-1

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