Conjunctival tumors in children: Histopathologic diagnosis in 165 cases

Abstract

Purpose: Conjunctival tissue tumors have a varied presentation, and few series studies on pediatric patients have been published. The objective of this paper is to report the histopathologic diagnoses (spanning over 1988-2013) of conjunctival tumors in children younger than 14 years. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, descriptive, and observational study by reviewing the database of all children in whom a conjunctival tumor was surgically removed at Hospital de Ojos y Oídos "Dr. Rodolfo Robles V.," Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala. The data pertaining to gender, age, and histopathologic diagnosis of all cases was collected. The same ocular pathologist made all diagnoses. Results: One hundred sixty-five cases were found, with a mean age of 7.88 years, being 91 (55.15%) male subjects. Melanocytic lesions were the most common tumors found (30.91% of cases), with only one case (0.60%) being malignant. Conclusions: Melanocytic lesions were the most common tumors found, and of all the cases, only one was malignant; this was in a patient with xeroderma pigmentosum. These findings are consistent with those reported in other studies regarding the frequencies of the histopathology of conjunctival tumors in the pediatric population.