Results of cryotherapy for eyelid malignancies

Abstract

A total of 164 nodular and infiltrative eyelid basal cell carcinomas were treated with liquid nitrogen spray cryotherapy and followed up for a minimum of five years. For lesions less than 10 mm in diameter, nodular basal cell carcinomas had a 97% cure rate with cryotherapy and infiltrative basal cell carcinomas had a 94% cure rate. However, nodular of infiltrative basal cell carcinoma lesions larger than 10 mm in diameter had 85% and 82% cure rates with cryotherapy, respectively. After a minimum four-year follow-up period, 25 recurrent basal cell carcinomas previously treated by various methods had a 93% cure rate when re-treated with cryotherapy. Data for other malignant eyelid lesions treated with cryotherapy were insufficient for statistical analysis.