Ablepharia is a congenital absence of eyelids. This anomaly is practically non-existent independently – almost always accompanied by cryptophthalmos – a congenital underdevelopment of the eye. In case of abscess, the small, undeveloped nut of the eye is covered with skin growing from the forehead instead of the eyelid. There is no corneal membrane. Its place is occupied by a connective tissue scar, which is attached to the colored membrane. Often ablepharia and cryptophthalmos are bilateral. They are not cured.
The cause of Ablepharia is unknown. The eye is formed in such a sequence: the two-month-old embryo begins to form eyelids. During this period the eyelids are not differentiated yet, only from the 6th month the skin fold expands to the upper and lower eyelids, and by the 7th month an eye crack has already formed which gradually widens during the first two years of human life and is fully formed by 8-10 years. If at any stage of eyelid formation there is an abnormal change in the body of the pregnant woman, the developmental cycle of the eyelids and eye fissures may be disrupted and ablation may develop. Fortunately, this innate ugliness is rare.
