Periorbital cellulitis in infancy.

To our knowledge, no previous study of periorbital cellulitis has focused on its specific characteristics in infants only (less than 1 year of age.) We retrospectively studied 30 cases of infantile periorbital cellulitis treated at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center from 1977 to 1988. Characteristics of the disorder in our infants older than 1 month were similar to earlier reports of older children in terms of etiology, radiological and bacteriological findings, and course. However, compared with our older infants, our seven neonates (7 to 30 days old) had a higher incidence of ruptured dacryocele (29% vs 0%) and unknown source of the infection (43% vs 4%); but a lower incidence of preceding upper respiratory infection (14% vs 78%), abnormal sinus films (0% vs 22%), and positive blood cultures (14% vs 30%). Of the positive cultures, Hemophilus sp was the most common pathogen among the older infants (35%), while Streptococcus and Staphylococcus were the most frequent among the neonates (71%). All infections remained preseptal and responded well to intravenous antibiotics.