Periocular pilomatrixoma: a retrospective analysis of 16 cases

Pilomatrixoma is a benign tumor of the hair follicle, occurring more frequently in the head and neck. There are relatively few published large case series in the ophthalmic literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate additional case series of patients with periocular pilomatrixoma, treated in the institute from 1995 to 2011.

A retrospective analysis of all cases with periocular pilomatrixoma treated during 16 years was made. Data were collected regarding the age at the time of excision, gender, tumor location, tumor dimensions, suspected clinical diagnosis before biopsy, gross appearance, histopathological features, treatment, recurrence, and other syndromes related and family occurrence.

Only 16 cases with pilomatrixoma were treated during 16 years. Most of the cases (69%) presented in the first 2 decades of life with female predilection (62.5%). The most common affected site was the upper eyelid (62.5%). All patients were asymptomatic. Various diagnoses were suspected clinically prior to surgical removal and histopathological confirmation of the tumor, and only in 18.75%, pilomatrixoma was suspected. Simple resection was carried out in all cases. No recurrence or malignant transformation was reported.

Pilomatrixoma is a relatively infrequent periocular tumor, which isn't usually recognized clinically. The findings of the current case series, which is one of the largest published thus far in the ophthalmic literature, are in concordance with the other series of pilomatrixoma, confirming the epidemiologic, clinical, and histopathological features of this tumor in the periocular region.