Pia R Mendoza1, Frederick A Jakobiec, Michael K Yoon. 1. David G. Cogan Laboratory of Ophthalmic Pathology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To describe an acquired keratinizing cyst of the palpebral conjunctiva. METHODS: Observational case report with clinical and histopathologic correlations. RESULTS: A 41-year-old man presented with diffuse mild left upper eyelid swelling, eye pain, and redness in the absence of a nodule. Eversion of the eyelid revealed a whitish-gray, well-demarcated, superficial 4 × 4 mm lesion on the medial portion of the palpebral surface accompanied by a large epithelial erosion in the superior aspect of the cornea. The lesion was excised completely, sparing the tarsus. The site of excision healed completely after 1 week with no recurrence during 6 months of follow-up. Histopathologically, the lesion consisted of a round, eosinophilic, compact, acellular mass of keratin. The cyst's epithelial covering was a mixture of mostly flattened but occasionally polygonal basaloid epithelial cells, sometimes with foci of parakeratosis and pigmentation. There was no apparent keratohyalin granular layer (trichilemmal rather than epidermoid keratinization). CONCLUSIONS: The pathogenesis of this peculiar lesion is hypothesized to involve a pseudogland of Henle that developed trichilemmal keratinization. It represents another easily overlooked cause of corneal epithelial erosion.
PURPOSE: To describe an acquired keratinizing cyst of the palpebral conjunctiva. METHODS: Observational case report with clinical and histopathologic correlations. RESULTS: A 41-year-old man presented with diffuse mild left upper eyelid swelling, eye pain, and redness in the absence of a nodule. Eversion of the eyelid revealed a whitish-gray, well-demarcated, superficial 4 × 4 mm lesion on the medial portion of the palpebral surface accompanied by a large epithelial erosion in the superior aspect of the cornea. The lesion was excised completely, sparing the tarsus. The site of excision healed completely after 1 week with no recurrence during 6 months of follow-up. Histopathologically, the lesion consisted of a round, eosinophilic, compact, acellular mass of keratin. The cyst's epithelial covering was a mixture of mostly flattened but occasionally polygonal basaloid epithelial cells, sometimes with foci of parakeratosis and pigmentation. There was no apparent keratohyalin granular layer (trichilemmal rather than epidermoid keratinization). CONCLUSIONS: The pathogenesis of this peculiar lesion is hypothesized to involve a pseudogland of Henle that developed trichilemmal keratinization. It represents another easily overlooked cause of corneal epithelial erosion.