Ocular surface pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia secondary to allergic eye disease: clinical features and management

To study the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of ocular surface pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia (PEH) associated with chronic vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).

This retrospective study includes 39 eyes of 32 patients with VKC induced PEH who presented from 2016-2022. A database search was conducted for diagnosis of PEH, and data on clinical features, imaging characteristics, and treatment were analyzed.

Of the 32 patients, 11 (34%) were children and adolescents, 21 (66%) were adults. PEH was common in males (72%) and ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) was the commonest referral diagnosis (43.7%). Mean age at presentation was 26.62 ± 10.18 (range: 6-52) years. While history of VKC was present in 21 patients, 11 were diagnosed with VKC at the time of diagnosis of PEH. The mean base/largest diameter was 5.2 ± 1.67 mm. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) showed irregular hyper-reflective epithelium, epithelial dipping, and sub-epithelial hyper-reflective lesion with shadowing in all lesions. Of the 31 eyes that received medical therapy, 21 (67%) and 10 (32%) eyes showed complete and partial resolution respectively with median time to resolution of 3(IQR:2-4) months. Eight eyes that underwent surgical excision showed complete resolution and one developed partial limbal stem cell deficiency.

Ocular surface PEH is a manifestation of chronic VKC which closely mimics OSSN. Detailed history-taking, examination for signs of allergy, and AS-OCT imaging can distinguish it from OSSN. It responds well to medical therapy and should be considered first-line therapy before planning any surgical intervention.