Periorbital Nodular Fasciitis in Pregnancy: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Nodular fasciitis is a comparatively common benign soft tissue tumor, which may rarely occur in the periorbital and orbital regions. It can be confused with a malignant sarcoma both in its clinical behavior and histologic appearance. Trauma is a suspected risk factor for nodular fasciitis and pregnancy may also be a risk factor. This may be due to the hormone-related changes occurring in pregnancy, which are suspected to be responsible for the growth of some orbital masses in pregnancy. However, there are other cases of orbital masses, which have grown in pregnancy and were not proven positive for estrogen or progesterone receptors, suggesting another mechanism for tumor growth. In any case, awareness of nodular fasciitis in the differential diagnosis of a rapidly growing, soft tissue mass in the periorbital and orbital regions is important to avoid misdiagnosis of a malignancy and unnecessary treatment.