PURPOSE
Conjunctival tumors in children are rarely malignant. However, they often concern both parents and pediatricians, resulting in prolonged follow-up and surgery under general anesthesia in tertiary referral hospitals. The aim of the study was to analyze the type and frequency of benign and malignant conjunctival tumors among pediatric patients with conjunctival lesions.
METHODS
A retrospective analysis was carried out based on histopathological reports of surgically removed conjunctival lesions. We included patients below 18 years of age who underwent excisional biopsy in the Ophthalmology Department of Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poland between November 2013 and November 2021.
RESULTS
We identified one-hundred-and-seven patients, 55 girls (51,4%) and 52 boys (48,6%), with conjunctival lesions. The mean age at the time of excision was 10 years (range: 7-17). All excised lesions were benign. Histopathological diagnoses were grouped into three classes: benign tumors (92 [86%]); fragments of a normal tissue with or without melanosis (11 [10,3%]); and inflammatory lesions (4 [3,7%]). Among benign tumors the most common was melanocytic nevus (87 [94,5%]). Other benign tumors included dysplastic nevus (1 [1,1%]), Spitz nevus (1 [1,1%]), epidermoid cyst (1 [1,1%]), lipoma (1 [1,1%]), papilloma (1 [1,1%]) and sebaceous nevus with chronic inflammation (1 [1,1%]).
CONCLUSION
Our study is consistent with reports confirming that malignant conjunctival tumors in children are extremely rare. Lesion character and patient age should be taken into account when considering surgical removal of conjunctival lesions in children as the procedure is performed under general anesthesia.