[Benign Tumors of the Eyelid]

Abstract

Benign tumors of the eyelids are manifold. They can severely impair the anatomical unit of upper and lower eyelid, which basically serves to protect the eyeball. Furthermore, they can induce reduction of visual acuity or cause a subjectively more or less strong aesthetic disturbance of appearance. Patients may visit the ophthalmologist by themselves or referred by a dermatologist or a general practitioner. Therefore, knowledge of the clinical signs and symptoms of benign tumors are mandatory to discriminate against malign tumors or to identify possible associated disease. In this article, the incidence, clinic, risk factors, symptomatology, histopathologic features, and probabilities of malignant transformation and recurrence of the most common benign eyelid tumors are presented. Objective of this article is to illustrate when to do further work-up to rule out systemic disease and when to do biopsy to rule out malignancy. Finally, the publication is giving an outlook on the use of artificial intelligence to diagnose lid tumors in the future.