Ciaccio's glands or Wolfring's glands are small tubular accessory lacrimal glands (''glandulae lacrimales accessoriae'') found in the

lacrimal caruncle The lacrimal caruncle, or caruncula lacrimalis, is the small, pink, globular nodule at the inner corner (the medial canthus) of the eye. It consists of tissue types of neighbouring eye structures. It may suffer from lesions and allergic inflammatio ...

of the

eyelid An eyelid is a thin fold of skin that covers and protects an eye. The levator palpebrae superioris muscle retracts the eyelid, exposing the cornea to the outside, giving vision. This can be either voluntarily or involuntarily. The human eyel ...

. These accessory

lacrimal gland The lacrimal glands are paired exocrine glands, one for each eye, found in most terrestrial vertebrates and some marine mammals, that secrete the aqueous layer of the tear film. In humans, they are situated in the upper lateral region of each o ...

s are located in the upper border of the tarsus, approximately in the middle between the extremities of the tarsal glands. Sometimes they are situated slightly above the tarsus. There are usually 2 to 5 of these

gland In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream ( endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface ( exocrine gland). Structure ...

s in the upper eyelid, and their function is to produce

tears Tears are a clear liquid secreted by the lacrimal glands (tear gland) found in the eyes of all land mammals. Tears are made up of water, electrolytes, proteins, lipids, and mucins that form layers on the surface of eyes. The different types of ...

which are secreted onto the surface of the

conjunctiva The conjunctiva is a thin mucous membrane that lines the inside of the eyelids and covers the sclera (the white of the eye). It is composed of non-keratinized, stratified squamous epithelium with goblet cells, stratified columnar epitheli ...

. They are named after Italian

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

Giuseppe Vincenzo Ciaccio (1824–1901), who described these glands in 1874. They are sometimes called "Wolfring's glands" after Polish

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

Emilj von Wolfring (1832-1906), who described them during the same time period as did Ciaccio. Another type of accessory lacrimal gland are " Krause's glands", which are smaller, more numerous than "Ciaccio's glands" and are found along the superior and inferior fornices of the conjunctival sac.

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Further reading