Bickerstaff's encephalitis is a rare inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system, first described by Edwin Bickerstaff in 1951. It may also affect the peripheral nervous system, and has features in common with both Miller Fisher syndrome and GuillainâBarrÃ© syndrome. 1  1 Signs and symptoms.  2 Pathophysiology.
Pathophysiology. Tears are produced in the lacrimal gland and drain through the upper and lower puncta into the canaliculi and then into the lacrimal sac and nasolacrimal duct (see Figure: Anatomy of the lacrimal system. ). Obstruction of tear drainage can lead to stasis and infection.
The ducts of the glands, from six to twelve in number, run obliquely beneath the conjunctiva for a short distance, and open along the upper and lateral half of the superior conjunctival fornix. In structure and general appearance the lacrimal resembles the serous salivary glands. In the recent state the cells are so crowded with granules that their limits can hardly be defined. They contain oval nuclei, and the cell protoplasm is finely fibrillated.