Surgical excision of selected amblyogenic periorbital capillary hemangiomas

Abstract

To report the successful surgical excision of well-circumscribed capillary hemangiomas of the eyelid and orbit inducing occlusion amblyopia in 2 cases with immediate improvement of the patient's symptoms. A 2-month-old girl was diagnosed with a massive, amblyogenic orbital tumor which was removed intact via an inferior transconjunctival orbitotomy after magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a well-defined mass filling the entire inferior orbit. Histopathologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of orbital capillary hemangioma. A 1-month-old girl developed occlusion amblyopia due to an enlarging subcutaneous tumor of the left upper eyelid. The discrete mass was excised via an eyelid crease approach and confirmed to be an eyelid capillary hemangioma. There were no short-term or long-term complications in either case. In both cases, immediate resolution of occlusion amblyopia and cosmetic disfiguration was achieved. The final visual acuities were 20/20 at 5 years in the first patient and 20/30 at 4 years follow-up in the second patient. Orbital and eyelid capillary hemangiomas can induce profound permanent amblyopia. If the tumor is well-circumscribed, confirmed with orbital imaging, then surgical excision, with immediate resolution of amblyogenic factors, can be considered as a treatment option.