Short Tarsus With Absence Of Lower Eyelashes

Lopes et al. (1994) described a Brazilian family in which members of 4 generations showed absence of the lower eyelashes associated with thin and short upper tarsus, normal upper eyelashes, and hypoplastic lower eyelids with short and small tarsus. There were a few short, thin, and light-colored lower eyelashes visible only on biomicroscopy. Lopes et al. (1994) suggested the designation short tarsus--absence of lower eyelashes (STALE) and raised the question of similarity to the findings in a father and son reported by Traquair (1912). Autosomal dominant inheritance seemed quite clear from the presence of 5 instances of male-to-male transmission.