Neurilemoma of the eyelid resembling a recurrent chalazion

A 63-year-old woman was seen with a slowly enlarging mass located on the right lower eyelid, where a "chalazion" had been twice curetted but not studied histologically. An excisional biopsy was performed, and the specimen proved histologically to be a neurilemoma (schwannoma). Although a neurilemoma is extremely rare on the eyelid, this case demonstrates that it should be included in the differential diagnosis of lesions that can clinically masquerade as a chalazion.