Handheld reflectance confocal microscopy for the diagnosis of conjunctival tumors

To evaluate whether the handheld in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy that has been recently developed for the study of skin tumors is suitable for the diagnosis of conjunctival tumors.

Prospective study, observational case series.

We prospectively evaluated the reflectance confocal microscopy features of 53 conjunctival lesions clinically suspicious for tumors of 46 patients referred to the University Hospital of Saint-Etienne (France) by using the handheld device. Twenty-three lesions were excised (3 nevi, 10 melanomas, 5 squamous cell carcinoma, 2 lymphomas, and 3 pinguecula/pterygium) while the other 30, presenting no reflectance confocal microscopy malignant features, were under follow-up for at least 1 year. Clinical reflectance confocal microscopy and histologic diagnosis were compared.

In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy diagnosis was in agreement with the histologic diagnosis in all cases and none of the lesions that were not excised show any clinical progression under follow-up.

In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy with a handheld dermatology-dedicated microscope can play a role in the noninvasive diagnosis of conjunctival lesions. Further studies should be performed to better define the diagnostic ability of this technique.