No abstract

The therapy of choice for common canaliculus stenoses in addition to canaliculodacryocystorhinostomy is silicone tube implantation. The results of both procedures, however, are often disappointing. Balloon catheter dilatation is a minimally invasive technique carried out under local anesthesia which represents an alternative therapy option for the treatment of stenoses of the common canaliculus.

We describe the case of a 23-year-old Caucasian woman who presented with alien hand syndrome and a first episode of the coenesthetic subtype of schizophrenia. ‘Alienness’ of her non-dominant hand was intimately phenomenologically associated with the onset of first-psychosis. Cerebral MRI revealed a partial agenesis of the corpus callosum with a complete absence of the rostrum, hypoplastic anterior and inferior genu, and a hypoplastic splenium. This case suggests that this syndrome can occur with the development of a functional disconnection syndrome involving the anterior callosum, and in this case the ‘second hit’ proposed to occur in early adulthood in schizophrenia may have interacted with her earlier neurodevelopmental lesion to result in a combination of psychosis and alien hand syndrome.

Balloon dacryocystoplasty and Stentimplantation are minimal-invasive alternatives, performed in local anesthesia that recover the normal anatomy of the nasolacrimal duct system. They are a good alternative in the treatment of epiphora caused by nasolacrimal duct obstructions.

Until recently in stenosis of the canaliculus communis the only therapeutic option was surgical procedure followed by silicone tube intubation. The results were often disappointing. In contrast to this balloon dacryocystoplasty is a minimally-invasive alternative in the therapy of stenosis of the canaliculus communis resulting in good clinical outcome during follow up.