Milestones in Oculofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: The Discovery of the Levator Palpebrae Superioris and Its Subsequent History.

Purpose: This review aims to substantiate attributions of priority for the discovery and first description of the levator palpebrae superioris (LPS) muscle to Matteo Realdo Colombo [Columbus] (1516-1559), and to describe the history of this muscle from ancient to modern times.

Methods: Relevant chapters on eyelid and eye muscles in Colombo's De re anatomica (1559) were translated, and the work was further analyzed from a historical perspective. Literature on the anatomy of human eyelid and orbital striated muscles was reviewed from the publication of the Fabrica (1543) by Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) through modern times.

Dressing ignition and facial burns following orbital exenteration.

A 49-year-old woman with type II diabetes mellitus and a history of smoking underwent partial eyelid-sparing exenteration of the right orbit and antifungal therapy for zygomycosis. The medial orbital wall healed with a 7-mm fistula to the ethmoid sinus and a moist granulating apex required daily dressing changes for several months. Eighteen weeks following surgery, the patient cleaned her face with an alcohol wipe and then lit a cigarette, igniting the dressing covering the exenterated eye socket.