[The inheritance of congenital nasolacrimal duct stenosis].

The incidence of congenital nasolacrimal duct stenosis in 587 neonates surveyed was found to be 0.17%, while a familial investigation of 100 consecutive patients revealed the incidence of the first, second and third degree relatives were respectively 2.32%, 0.95%, and 0.45%; the obvious differences of incidence (P less than 0.05) indicated an apparent genetic involvement. 86 of the 100 patients were sporadic, and the pedigree study of 14 patients with positive family history did not produce sufficient evidence of autosomal dominant, recessive, or sex-linked inheritance. In conclusion, the mode of inheritance of the disease was thought to be multigenic and the inheritability calculated to be 58%.