Metastatic eyelid disease

Abstract

The authors conducted a clinicopathologic study of 31 patients with metastatic disease to the eyelid at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Metastasis was found predominantly in women (female/male = 4:1). The mean age was 69 years (range, 3-92). The most common primary sites were breast (35%), skin (16%), and gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts (each 10%). Aside from breast carcinoma, there was no sex predilection for the extramammary malignancies to metastasize to the eyelids. Metastasis was suspected in only 32% of the cases. Most common misdiagnoses were chalazion, cyst, granuloma, and xanthoma. The lid lesions were detected before the primary focus in 45% of the cases. The authors conclude that metastatic disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of eyelid lesions.