[Unusual course of a chalazion]

A chalazion is a benign, inflammatory tumor of the eyelid caused by an obstruction of the excretory duct of a meibomian gland. Usually a chalazion shows a slow painless and non-inflammatory progression. Interestingly, sinus infections can initially simulate chalazia by causing an orbital involvement with eyelid swelling.

We report the case of a 15-year-old boy with frontal and ethmoidal sinusitis with inflammatory orbital infiltration and subacute eyelid swelling. The cerebral imaging showed an encapsulated brain abscess so that an urgent surgical removal of the abscess cavity was indicated. After several neurosurgical procedures a complete remission of the abscess could be achieved. In spite of the large abscess in the frontal lobe the boy never showed any neurological or psychiatric symptoms.

In atypical courses of a chalazion the clinical picture requires further diagnosis including evaluation and imaging in otorhinolaryngology and neurology.