Collier's sign (also known as Collier's tucked lid sign or posterior fossa stare) is bilateral or unilateral

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. "Palpebral ...

retraction. It is an accepted medical sign of a

midbrain The midbrain or mesencephalon is the uppermost portion of the brainstem connecting the diencephalon and cerebrum with the pons. It consists of the cerebral peduncles, tegmentum, and tectum. It is functionally associated with vision, hearing, mo ...

lesion, first described in 1927 by J Collier.J. Collier, Nuclear Ophthalmoplegia with special reference to retraction of the lids and ptosis and to lesions of the posterior commissure. ''

Brain (journal) ''Brain: A Journal of Neurology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of neurology, founded in 1878 by John Charles Bucknill, David Ferrier, James Crichton-Browne and John Hughlings Jackson. It is published by Oxford University Press. The jou ...

'' 1927; 50; 488 - 498. With the eyes in the primary position, the

sclera The sclera, also known as the white of the eye or, in older literature, as the tunica albuginea oculi, is the opaque, fibrous, protective outer layer of the eye containing mainly collagen and some crucial elastic fiber. In the development of t ...

can be seen above the

cornea The cornea is the transparency (optics), transparent front part of the eyeball which covers the Iris (anatomy), iris, pupil, and Anterior chamber of eyeball, anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and Lens (anatomy), lens, the cornea ...

, and further upgaze increases the distance between the eyelids and irises. Causes include upper dorsal midbrain supranuclear lesions such as

Parinaud's syndrome Parinaud's syndrome is a constellation of neurological signs indicating injury to the dorsal midbrain. More specifically, compression of the vertical gaze center at the rostral interstitial nucleus of medial longitudinal fasciculus (riMLF). It ...

, 'top of the basilar syndrome', midbrain infarction,

neurodegeneration A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Neuronal damage may also ultimately result in their cell death, death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic lateral sc ...

or tumour,

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the Human brain, brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, aphasia, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include se ...

, and Miller-Fisher syndrome. The cause is thought to be damage to the

posterior commissure The posterior commissure (also known as the epithalamic commissure) is a rounded band of white fibers crossing the middle line on the dorsal aspect of the rostral end of the cerebral aqueduct. It is important in the bilateral pupillary light re ...

levator inhibitory fibres which originate in the M-group of

neuron A neuron (American English), neurone (British English), or nerve cell, is an membrane potential#Cell excitability, excitable cell (biology), cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network (biology), neural net ...

References

{{med-sign-stub Medical signs