Purpose
To outline the demographics of patients with chalazia from a tertiary care center in New York City over a nine-year period.
Methods
A retrospective observational chart review of all patients diagnosed with chalazion at Mount Sinai Hospital from Jan 2003 to May 2012 (n = 975) was performed. The Mount Sinai Data Warehouse (MSDW) was used to collect de-identified patient data to analyze age, gender, and race. The prevalence of surgical intervention and various systemic conditions was calculated.
Results
This study included 975 individuals, with 571 (58.6%) females and 404 (41.4%) males. The mean age was 34.4 (SD 22). More females than males were affected in all age groups. African Americans were most likely, while Asian Americans were least likely to develop chalazia. Associated diagnoses in addition to chalazia included rosacea, blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction and eyelid abscess. Only 3% of patients underwent surgical incision and drainage for chalazion excision.
Conclusions
Chalazion is a common problem that affects the urban population and often requires multiple physician visits. From the study population, females and African Americans were found to have a higher incidence of chalazia.
Keywords: 526 eyelid •
557 inflammation •
631 orbit