A Critical Analysis of Eleven Periocular Lobular Capillary Hemangiomas in Adults

To provide a critical analysis of a series of periocular lobular capillary hemangiomas in adults, outlining characteristic clinical and histopathologic patterns in comparison with those of other vascular tumors of adults and children.

Retrospective observational case series.

Review of clinical data, hematoxylin-eosin-stained sections, and immunohistochemical studies of smooth muscle actin (SMA), D2-40, CD34, and glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1).

The 7 female and 4 male patients were diagnosed with periocular lobular capillary hemangioma at a median age of 39 years (range, 17-82 years). The tumors were small (3-14 mm, median size 6 mm) and well circumscribed, arose over the course of weeks to months, and developed most commonly in the canthal region, followed by the upper eyelid skin. The tumors were all composed microscopically of repeating units of various sizes (lobules) consisting of CD34-postive, GLUT-1-negative endothelial cells and SMA-positive pericytes arranged in macro- or microlobules. Some foci also exhibited ectatic vessels or diffuse, nonlobular capillary proliferations. Excision was curative without recurrence.

Although capillary hemangiomas are more common in children, lobular capillary hemangiomas can also arise in the periocular region of adults. Some histopathologic features of these lesions are shared with those of infantile hemangioma and tufted angioma of children, but features of the clinical presentation and the results of immunohistochemical staining patterns are distinctive.