Dacryoscintigraphy in children.

Dacryoscintigraphy was performed in 34 pediatric patients aged between 13 months and 20 years. Twenty-six were 12 years of age or younger. The study is easy to perform and provides useful information regarding the function of the nasolacrimal system. The radiation dose to the lens of the eye, estimated to be 4-14m rads/100 uCi of technetium pertechnetate, is considerably less than that of a skull x-ray or dacryocystography. Of the 74 nasolacrimal systems studied, the findings were in agreement with the clinical observations and other methods of testing in 63. In nine instances, the findings altered the clinical management while the results were inconclusive or misleading in the remaining two. Dacryoscintigraphy was found to be a useful physiological test in the evaluation of children with epiphora.