Flash information
- Site
- Upper eyelid
- Laterality
- Unilateral or bilateral
- Variability
- Fixed or fatigable
- Associated examination
- Pupils and motility
Definition
Ptosis is abnormal upper eyelid drooping in primary gaze.
Examination or reading method
Measure eyelid position, test levator function and examine pupils, eye movements and fatigability.
Morphological description
Record onset, laterality, constant or fluctuating course and visual-axis obstruction.
Causes and diagnostic direction
Mechanisms may be aponeurotic, muscular, neurogenic, mechanical or traumatic.
Differential diagnoses
Distinguish true ptosis from redundant skin or an abnormal globe position.
Associated findings
Ptosis with miosis suggests Horner syndrome; diplopia or abnormal motility suggests oculomotor involvement.
Red flags
Acute painful ptosis with headache, anisocoria or impaired motility requires urgent neurological assessment.
Pitfalls and limitations
A normal pupil does not exclude all neurological causes; a photograph cannot test fatigability.
Take-home message
Describe the eyelid, then integrate pupils, motility and chronology before drawing conclusions.
Sources
- Blepharoptosis (Ptosis): Classification, Evaluation, and Surgical Management - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf ↗
- Anisocoria - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf ↗
Documentary review: 2026-10-12
Media source & rights
- Author
- Guichen Li; Yang Zhang; Xiaobo Zhu; Kun Hou
- Original source
- Guichen Li; Yang Zhang; Xiaobo Zhu; Kun Hou · Ptosis post-traumatique documenté · https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12886-015-0153-5 · CC BY 4.0
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Changes
- Proportional resize and WebP conversion only; metadata removed; full source figure preserved.
- Dimensions
- 867 × 537 px
- Check
- 2026-10-11