Patency of the lacrimal drainage system in patients with a peripunctal tumour

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To examine the patency or secondary obstruction of the lacrimal drainage system in patients with a peripunctal tumour.

Methods: This retrospective, observational, and comparative study included 10 patients with a peripunctal tumour. Lacrimal probing and syringing in all patients and dacryoendoscopic examinations in 5 patients were performed to check for patency of the lacrimal drainage system. Tear meniscus height (TMH) was measured bilaterally in the upper and lower eyelids using anterior segment optical coherence tomography and compared in relation to the affected side using one-way ANOVA.

Results: All patients did not complain of epiphora. Probing gave a hard stop and irrigation fluid passed into the nose. A patent punctum/canaliculus was also confirmed by dacryoendoscopy in all of the 5 patients. TMH was not significantly different among the sides (P = .900).

Conclusions: This study shows patency of the lacrimal drainage system in patients with a peripunctal tumour and no significant difference in TMH among the sides, resulting in absence of epiphora in all patients.

KEYWORDS:

• Epiphora
• patent lacrimal drainage system
• peripunctal tumour
• probe
• tear meniscus height

Authors’ contributions

All authors qualify for authorship based on contributions to the conception and design (YT), acquisition of data (EI, HK, and YT), literature search (EI and YT), and analyses and interpretation of data (all authors). All authors contributed to drafting the article and revising it critically for important intellectual content and final approval of the version to be published.

Other contributors

No one contributed to the work that did not meet our authorship criteria.