Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Marcus Gunn jaw winking synkinesis
HP:0025186
What it means
Unilateral ptosis with associated upper eyelid contraction and contraction of either the external or the internal pterygoid muscle. It is thought to occur because of congenital miswiring of a branch of the fifth cranial nerve into the branch of the third cranial nerve supplying the levator muscle. In Marcus Gunn jaw winking synkinesis, elevation and even retraction of the affected eyelid is triggered by chewing, suction, lateral mandible movement, smiling, sternocleidomastoid contraction, protruding tongue, Valsalva maneuver and even by breathing.
Rare diseases that can present with this5
The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Marcus Gunn jaw-winking syndrome · Pterygoid-levator synkinesis · Trigemino-oculomotor synkinesis
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Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.