Congenital alacrima without associated manifestations (AD). An affected father and son

The authors report a Kuwaiti Arab family in which the father and one of his two sons have severe hypolacrimation with blotchy staining of the cornea and punctate staining of the interpalpebral bulbar conjunctiva by fluorescein and Rose Bengal. Pharmacologic testing together with biochemical analysis and systemic examinations and investigations suggest an isolated dysfunction of lacrimation. The authors' small Arab family differs from the only other recorded pedigree (Irish) in which all five affected members in four generations also had atopy.