[Features of clinical presentation, pathology and magnetic resonance or computed tomography imaging for ocular...

To explore the distribution and magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography (MRI/CT) of lymphoma in orbit.

Retrospective analyses were conducted for 73 cases with ocular complaints at Beijing Tong'ren Hospital from June 2006 to September 2012. They were confirmed pathologically as lymphoma with complete MRI/CT records.

Ocular adnexal lymphoma occurred predominantly in adults. There were 47 males and 26 females with a median age of (60 ± 12.0) years. The lesions were bilateral (n = 24), right side (n = 23) and left side (n = 26) respectively. The pathological types included mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma (n = 59), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL, n = 7), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL, n = 3), lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL, n = 2) and follicular lymphoma and natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (FL and NKT, n = 1) respectively. They had well-defined margins in 64 sides, less well-defined margins in 17 sides and ill-defined margins in 16 sides. And 29 sides of lesions presented as a regional mass within conjunctiva in 16/97 sides (16.5%), lacrimal gland in 5/97 sides (5.2%), eyelids in 3/97 sides (3.1%), ocular muscle in 2/97 sides (2.1%) and lacrimal sac in 3/97 sides (3.1%). Moreover, 68 sides of lesion were diffusely distributed. The invaded sites included preseptal region in 38/97 sides (39.2%), extraconal compartment in 69/97 sides (71.1%), intraconal compartment in 54/97 sides (55.7%), eyeball region in 45/97 sides (46.4%), subperiosteum in 14/97 sides (14.4%), cone compartment in 73/97 sides (75.3%), lacrimal gland in 38/97 sides (39.2%) and sheath of optic nerve in 33/97 sides (34.0%). And, on MRI scan, 70 cases (94 sides) had isointensity in 88/94 sides, hypointensity in 6/94 sides on T1WI and isointensity in 52/94 sides, mild hypointensity in 40/94 sides or mixed signal in 2/94 sides on T2WI. In addition, the signals were homogeneous in 67/94 sides and heterogeneous in 27/94 sides. After contrasting, these lesions showed mild contrast-enhancement (CE) in 27/94 sides, moderate CE in 67/94 sides with homogeneous CE in 52/94 sides and heterogeneous CE in 42/94 sides. On CT scan, 21 cases (24 sides) had isodensity in 18/24 sides and mild hyperdensity in 6/24 sides with homogeneous in 7/24 sides and heterogeneous in 17/24 sides. Moreover, most adjacent bone show no change (16/24 sides). Only 16/24 sides and 2/24 sides showed reformation or destruction respectively. At the same time, the lesions also involved other para-orbit structures, such as orbital apex (27/97 sides, 27.8%), fissure orbitalis inferior (14/97 sides, 14.4%), fossa pterygopalatina (10/97 sides, 10.3%), supraorbital nerve (8/97 sides, 8.2%), cavernous sinus (8/97 sides, 8.2%) and facial soft tissue (6/97 sides, 6.2%), et al.

Ocular adnexal lymphoma occurs predominantly in male adults. And multiple strictures and sites are often involved. There is iso-/mild hyperintensity with mild-to-moderate homo-/heterogeneous CE and little change of adjacent bone on T1WI and T2WI.