Benign tumors of Eyelid: A 10 years’ experience from Nepal

Abstract

Aim: The aim was to describe the epidemiology of primary benign eyelid tumors over a 10-year period at one of the tertiary eye care centers in Nepal. Method: This is a retrospective, a hospital-based study in which we reviewed the medical records of all patients with histologically confirmed benign eyelid tumors who were operated on at our institute over a period of 10 years from January 2006 to December 2016. Data were collected based on age, gender, location of the lesion, clinical and histological diagnosis, types of surgery, and recurrence. A total of 477 patients with histopathology reports were included in the study and benign eyelid tumors were categorized as epidermal, Adnexal, and Stromal. Data analysis was done using SPSS 16.0. The study was conducted after ethical approval from Institutional Review Committee, and adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Results: Out of a total of 477, 214 (44.9%) patients were male and 263 (55.1%) were female. The mean age of presentation was 35.36± 19.6 (range 1-93) years. The most common complaint was eyelid mass (91.2%) and the mean duration of presentation and follow-up was 43.46 ±78.55 and 15.88± 13.87 months respectively. The lower lid 206 (43.2%) was the most common site for tumor and local excision with direct closure was commonly performed procedure 291(61%). Overall, the most common histopathological diagnosis was Nevus 108 (22.6%) followed by Squamous Papilloma 58 (12.1%), epidermal cyst 52 (10.9%), capillary hemangioma 37(7.7%), and sebaceous cyst 36 (7.5%). We found clinical diagnosis matched with a histopathological report in 326 (68.3%) patients. However,18 patients (3.77%) clinically judged as malignant were confirmed to be benign on the histopathological report. Recurrence of eyelid tumor was seen among 7 (1.5%) and out of which capillary hemangioma reoccurred in 2 (28.6%). Conclusions: The majority of our patients presented with eyelid mass frequently located in the lower lid and diagnosed as nevi on the histopathological report. However, clinical misdiagnosis was found in 31.7% of cases where clinically suspected malignant tumors 3.77% turned to be benign on histopathology. We recommend routine histopathological evaluation of all the surgically excised eyelid tumors and also aware patients of the possibility of recurrence of benign eyelid
tumors.