Lacrimal sac

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Lacrimal sac
The lacrimal apparatus. Right side. (Lacrimal sac visible at upper right.)
The tarsi and their ligaments. Right eye; front view. (Lacrimal sac visible at middle right.)
Latin saccus lacrimalis
Gray's subject #227 1028
Artery angular artery
Dorlands/Elsevier s_01/12717293

The lacrimal sac is the upper dilated end of the nasolacrimal duct, and is lodged in a deep groove formed by the lacrimal bone and frontal process of the maxilla. It connects the lacrimal canaliculi, which drain tears from the eye's surface, and the nasolacrimal duct, which conveys this fluid into the nasal cavity.

It is oval in form and measures from 12 to 15 mm. in length; its upper end is closed and rounded; its lower is continued into the nasolacrimal duct.

Its superficial surface is covered by a fibrous expansion derived from the medial palpebral ligament, and its deep surface is crossed by the lacrimal part of the Orbicularis oculi, which is attached to the crest on the lacrimal bone.

Like the nasolacrimal duct, the sac is lined by stratified columnar epithelium with mucus-secreting goblet cells, with surrounding connective tissue.

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This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.