Primary extraskeletal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of the lid

A 15-year-old girl presented with a painless nodule in the nasal lower-lid portion of the left eye at the beginning of 1989. The tumor was excised in March 1989, and the histopathologic diagnosis was - erroneously - a chondromatous choristoma of the lid. The tumor recurred within several weeks. Another excision was performed, which led to the diagnosis of a malignant mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of the lid. Histopathology revealed the typical bimorphic pattern, with well-differentiated chondrocytes being surrounded by small anaplastic cells. The tumor cells stained positive for S100-protein and vimentin, were negative for cytokeratin and were studied ultrastructurally. Radical excision and adjuvant chemotherapy were performed in our patient; at 18 months after the onset of tumor growth, she is free of local or general tumor recurrence. To our knowledge, primary mesenchymal chondrosarcoma has not previously been described in the lid area.