Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the lacrimal gland. Case report and review of the literature.

A 12-year-old girl was diagnosed as having mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the lacrimal gland. To our knowledge, only 14 cases of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the lacrimal gland have been reported in the literature; this is the first case occurring in a child. Clinically, this tumor presented as a painless proptosis with inferonasal displacement of the globe. Histologically, it showed infiltrating lobules of neoplastic cells consisting of epidermoid cells admixed with mucin-containing cells and a mild lymphocytic infiltration in the stroma. The mucous cells stained positively with periodic acid-Schiff, Alcian blue, and mucicarmine dyes, but resisted digestion with hyaluronidase. This case illustrates that one should not exclude any diagnostic possibility just because the patient does not seem to belong to the appropriate age group.