NEONATAL LACRIMAL DRAINAGE STENOSIS ASSOCIATED WITH LAZY EYE

Arch Ophthalmol -- Abstract: Neonatal Dacryostenosis as a Risk Factor for Anisometropia, September 2010, Piotrowski et al. 128 (9): 1166

Neonatal dacryostenosis occurs when the passageway the drains the tears into the nose is blocked or not opened in a newborn baby. The child tends to have bouts of yellow mucous discharge. Until the child is 1 year old, treatment consists of aggressive massage of the drainage duct opening and antibiotic ointment. After a year, a procedure called a dacryocystorhinostomy is performed to open the passageways.

Anisometropia is a difference in focusing power between the two eyes. This often causes amblyopia, or "lazy eye" because the patient always uses the "good" eye and there's rarely a clear image brought into the "lazy" eye. The brain never develops to see clearly through the lazy eye.

This study indicates that there may be an association between neonatal dacryostenosis and anisometropia. Usually the more hyperopic eye occurs on the side with more stenosis.