Jyoti Deswal1 , Neebha Anand2 , Ashok Kumar Khurana3
BACKGROUND Eyelid tumours are commonly seen in daily ophthalmology practice. They constitute 5 - 10% of all skin tumours. The present retrospective study was undertaken to analyse the demographic profile, clinical presentation, and histopathological diagnosis of eyelid lesions over a 3-year period in a tertiary care centre, by retrieving the hospital-based data of the patients. METHODS A retrospective data of patients, who had undergone surgical management for eyelid tumours at Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and a histopathological analysis from Jan 2017 to Dec 2019 at our tertiary care hospital in North India, was done. The data collected included patients’ demography, location of tumour, laterality, whether benign or malignant, and the final histopathological diagnosis. RESULTS A total of 109 biopsies were reviewed during the 3-year retrospective period. There were 90 benign lesions and 19 malignant tumours. Overall, the most common age group was 11 - 20 years followed by 41 - 50 years. Benign lesions were seen most commonly in the age group of 11 - 20 years (mean age= 34.1 years); whereas, malignant lesions were more commonly seen equally in the age groups of 51 - 60 and 61 - 70 years (mean age= 61.42 years). The study did not show any sex preponderance. Out of the total, 49 lesions were seen in upper lid and 50 lesions were present in lower lid. The most common benign lesions seen were epidermal cysts (17.4%), dermoid cysts (14.6 %), and naevi (10.1%). Other benign lesions included sebaceous cysts, molluscum contagiosum, xanthelasma, conjunctival inclusion cysts, capillary haemangioma, papilloma, lacrimal gland ductal cysts, angiofibroma, pyogenic granuloma, seborrhoeic keratosis, cysticercosis, sebaceous adenoma, melanocytoma, pilomatrixoma, chondroid syringoma, syringocystadenoma papilliferum, clear cell fibroadenoma and trichoepithelioma. Out of the total 19 malignant lesions, basal cell carcinoma was the most common (7.3%) followed by sebaceous gland carcinoma (6.4%) and squamous cell carcinoma (3.6%). CONCLUSIONS Eyelid lesions, just like other skin tumours, vary in their morphological characteristics and clinical presentations. All surgically excised eyelid lesions must be subjected to histopathological examination to differentiate between benign and malignant tumours to provide a definitive diagnosis for better long-term management of patients. Awareness and understanding of various eyelid lesions, especially the uncommon ones, helps an ophthalmologist in treating such patients.
