Clinical and histocytopathological study of chronic dacryoadenitis.

Chronic dacryoadenitis occurs mainly in males over 40 years of age and is characterized by mild inflammatory signs, such as swelling and redness of the eyelid without tenderness, bulbar conjunctival stasis and chemosis. The patient has slight exophthalmos, good visual acuity and almost normal fundi. The clinical findings of chronic dacryoadenitis differ from those of benign mixed tumor. CT scan showed tumor shadows in the orbit of all our patients with chronic dacryoadenitis, but failed to differentiate this disease from benign mixed tumor. Antibiotics and steroid hormone did not improve chronic dacryoadenitis, but extirpation was effective, and there was no recurrence. When examined by light microscopy, chronic dacryoadenitis showed prominent proliferation of connective tissues and local infiltration of monocytes, lymphocytes and eosinophils. On electron microscopy, the basal lamina of myoepithelial cells of some acini was thickened. In some acini, intercellular spaces between epithelial cells or epithelial and myoepithelial cells were wide, but the intercellular junction looked intact.