Demographic features and histopathological diagnosis in primary eyelid tumors: results over 19 years from a tertiary center in Ankara, Turkey.

aimTo evaluate the demographic features, location, and histopathologic results in primary eyelid tumors.

methodsWe retrospectively reviewed the records of patients with primary eyelid tumor diagnosed and treated between November 1997 and June 2016 on our service.

resultsNine hundred and eleven lesions from 874 patients were included in this study. Four hundred and forty-six (51.0%) of the patients were females and 428 (49.0%) were males. The mean age was 51.0y (range: 3mo-94y). The lesions were located in the upper eyelid (418 cases, 45.9%), lower eyelid (378 cases, 41.5%), medial canthus (89 cases, 9.8%), and lateral canthus (26 cases, 2.8%). Four hundred and seventy (51.6%) lesions were located on the right side and 441 (48.4%) on the left. Of the eyelid lesions, 666 (73.1%) were benign, 230 (25.2%) malignant, and 15 (1.6%) premalignant. When the eyelid tumors were classified according to their tissue or cell of origin, 527 (57.8%) of the lesions were found to be epidermal, 171 (18.8%) adnexal, 131 (14.4%) inflammatory and infectious, and 65 (7.1%) stromal. The most common benign lesions were squamous cell papilloma (139 lesions, 15.2%), intradermal nevus (97 lesions, 10.6%), epidermoid inclusion cysts (78 lesions, 8.6%), seborrheic keratosis (60 lesions, 6.6%), and inflammatory masses (59 lesions, 6.5%). Basal cell carcinoma was the most common malignant tumor (191 lesions, 21.0%) followed by squamous cell carcinoma (16 lesions, 1.8%), sebaceous carcinoma (14 lesions, 1.5%), and malignant melanoma (5 lesions, 0.5%).

conclusionIn this study, 73.1% of eyelid lesions are benign and the remaining 26.9% are premalignant and malignant. Basal cell carcinoma is the most common tumor among all histopathological diagnosis followed by squamous papilloma.