Home > Encyclopedia of Cancer > Horner's Syndrome

Description

William Edmonds Horner (1793-1853) first described a small muscle at the angle of the eyelid (tensor tarsi) as well as a description of an ingenious operation to correct problems with the lower lid in 1824 in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences. Since that time, his name has been associated with the syndrome of a small, regular pupil, drooping of the eyelid on the same side and occasional loss of sweat formation on the forehead of the affected eye. In appearance, it occurs on one side of the face with a sinking in of the eyeball (enophthalmos), drooping upper eyelid (ptosis), slight elevation of the lower lid, excessive contraction of the pupil of the eye (miosis), narrowing of the eyelid, and an absence of facial sweat on the affected side (anhidrosis). Other symptoms may include a variation in eye color of the iris and changes...