Virus aetiology of certain cases of lacrimal obstruction.

The aetiology of most cases of lacrimation due to stenosis or obstruction of the upper lacrimal drainage system is not yet known, but in some cases it is due to infection of the lacrimal puncta and canaliculi when virus disease is localized in the eyes and eyelids. Attention has already been drawn to constriction and obstruction of the lacrimal puncta and canaliculi in ophthalmic vaccinia (Bouzas, i960, I962). Similar complications have been observed in herpes zoster ophthalmicus (Bouzas, I 964, 1965), in herpes simplex of the eye, and in the Lyell syndrome (Bouzas and Drossos, 197I). A systematic follow-up has been undertaken of ophthalmic involvement in various virus diseases in patients treated in Athens at the Infectious Diseases Hospital.