Schirmer test of lacrimation. Its clinical importance.
Lacrimation was tested by a modified Schrimer test, ie, by the soaking of strips of filter paper hooked into th lower conjunctival sac. The test is advocated for the topical diagnosis of facial-nerve lesions. Lacrimation was found to be independent of age and sex. There were, however, large inter- and intra-subject variations. Nevertheless, the difference between the two eyes of a given healthy person was much less than that between the eyes of two different persons, making the test clinically useful. In a given patient, a bilateral difference may be assumed to be significant when the lesser value does not exceed 27% of the larger one. Such a test result is indicative of a supraganglionic facial-nerve lesion.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005830:Geniculate Ganglion; D006801:Humans; D007765:Lacrimal Apparatus / Q000294:innervation / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D013666:Tears / Q000378:metabolism*