Value of bacterial culturing in the course of congenital nasolacrimal duct (NLD) obstruction.

The role of infection in the etiology and persistence of congenital nasolacrimal duct (NLD) obstruction is examined in a group of 334 infants who had conjunctival swabs cultured. One hundred and fifty eight (47%) of these had evidence of NLD obstruction and 176 (53%) did not. The types of organism grown from those with and without NLD obstruction were similar and occurred in almost equal proportions in each group. In addition, the rate of spontaneous resolution in those with NLD obstruction was the same, whether pathogenic bacteria were grown or not. There were no cases of orbital cellulitis, dacryocystitis, or ocular infection in those with NLD obstruction and no suggestion that secondary infection was more common in this group.