Lymphoid tumors of the ocular adnexa. Clinical correlation with the working formulation classification and immunoperoxidase staining of paraffin sections.

Eighty-eight patients with ocular adnexal lymphoid lesions examined at the Mayo Clinic between 1970 and 1982 were evaluated. The histopathologic type was reclassified using the working formulation. Paraffin sections were evaluated with immunoperoxidase staining. There were 11 "pseudotumors" and 77 lymphomas. Sixty lymphomas were small lymphocytic type A; 27 tissues had a monoclonal staining pattern, and 4 had a polyclonal staining pattern. Five of the pseudotumors had a polyclonal staining pattern; none had a monoclonal pattern. The remainder did not stain or tissue was not available. Thirty-six of the 44 lymphomas that presented in the ocular adnexa remained localized. There were no distinguishing features between conjunctival and orbital lymphomas. Significant damage to the ocular tissue occurred in 15 of the 63 patients treated with radiation therapy. Older, asymptomatic patients with a favorable histologic type may not require treatment; therapy is reserved for specific indications. The probability of survival to five or seven years differs little from that expected in the general population.