Episcleral hemangioma as an isolated finding

To report on a case of episcleral hemangioma in a child.

A 3-year-old boy presented with a 4-week history of limbal mass in the left eye and had an excision of that mass.

There was an 8 x 7 mm oval lesion, 3-4 mm below the inferior limbus. It was reddish, sharply elevated with smooth surface, and firmly attached to the underlying sclera with two large blood vessels over it. Histopathologic examination demonstrated a cellular lesion containing vascular spaces of various sizes. The solid appearance indicated an increase of cells that appear to be consistent with endothelial cells which formed a nest surrounded by PAS-positive strands. Small to moderate size capillaries were evident throughout the solid portion of the lesion. These findings were consistent with episcleral hemangioma of capillary type.

Episcleral hemangioma is a rare tumor and should be included in the differential diagnosis of episcleral tumors. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of episcleral hemangioma in a child as an isolated finding.