Etiology of tearing in patients seen in an oculoplastic clinic in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Aim: To determine the prevalence of various causes of tearing among patients referred to an oculoplastic clinic.

Materials and methods: A prospective study on all patients seen in an oculoplastic clinic with a chief complaint of tearing. The cause of tearing was determined on the basis of the anatomical location of the primary etiology.

Results: This study included 357 patients with a mean age 53.9 years. Punctal stenosis was the most common etiology, affecting 37.8% of the patients. Among patients with punctual stenosis, 63.4% were women over 50-year-old (P = 0.001); 55.6% had tearing for less than 6 months (P = 0.038), and all of them had associated chronic blepharitis. The remaining study participants had dry eye with reflex tearing (27.7%), nasolacrimal duct obstruction (10.1%), canalicular obstruction (4.2%), entropion or ectropion (3.4%), pterygium (1.7%), megalo-caruncle (1.7%), and functional tearing (1.7%).

Conclusion: The outcomes of this study indicate the most common cause of tearing is punctal pathology. Therefore, slit lamp evaluation with careful attention to the punctum is warranted in all patients with tearing.

Keywords: Blepharitis; Dry Eye; Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction; Punctal Stenosis; Tearing.