Mukhdoom Rakhshan Jameel Qureshi and Tariq Qureshi
Banha Children Specialist Hospital, India
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Gen Med (Los Angel)
There are numerous causes of childhood tearing, among them the following are the most important:
• Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction
• Congenital Glaucoma
• Corneal Ulcer
• Conjunctivitis
• Distichiasis
The commonest cause of childhood tearing is the obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct. This is typically due to a mucus membrane obstruction at lower end of nasolacrimal duct estimated to be present in upto 20% of new born babies. Lacrimal apparatus comprises of lacrimal gland, accessory lacrimal gland, lacrimal passage which includes puncta cannaliculi, lacrimal sac and nasolacrimal duct.
Clinical picture varies from mild watering to sticky mucopurulent discharge. In 90% children the symptoms resolve spontaneously before one year of age. Conservative treatment includes sac massage, anti-inflammatory drops or antibiotic drops. The 10% cases which do not respond to conservative treatment are subjected to probing of naso lacrimal passage followed by syringing. Probing is done at 6 months of age and if it fails, repeat of two probings can be done at an interval of 3 months.
Mukhdoom Rakhshan Jameel Qureshi completed his MBBS at the age of 24 years from Sharda University, Uttar Pradesh. He is currently working as a Junior Resident in Department of Paediatrics, SKIMS, Srinagar.
