Giant Conjunctival Cysts- Clinical Features of 13 Cases

Abstract

Purpose : We review the clinical features and treatment outcomes of 13 patients with this entity, which to our knowledge is the largest series to date.

Methods : Review of 13 patients with giant conjunctival cysts from 5 institutions.

Results : Patient characteristics are summarized in Table 1. 7 males and 6 females had a median age of 47 years (range 29-72). Races represented included 8 Caucasians, 4 African Americans, and 1 Asian. 9 (69%) cysts involved the palpebral conjunctiva (Fig 1), and 4 (31%) were located in the bulbar conjunctiva. The mean greatest dimension was 1.9 cm (range 1-3 cm). Cyst etiology included idiopathic in 9 (69%) cases, related to prior surgery in 3 (23%) cases (1 strabismus, 1 enucleation, 1 unknown surgery), and trauma related in 1 (8%) cases. Mean cyst duration was 31 months (range 0.75-228). Subjective symptoms were varied and correlated with cyst location. Treatment ranged from observation, drainage, marsupialization, and excision based on symptoms, exam findings, and preference of patient and surgeon. 7 out of 8 patients that underwent excision remained asymptomatic at mean follow up of 19 months.

Conclusions : Most patients with giant conjunctival cysts do not note an inciting event such as trauma or surgery and are idiopathic in origin. Patients present most commonly with foreign body sensation, and in most cases choose to excise the lesion for improvement in symptoms and/or cosmesis. Patients that underwent excision or marsupialization had improved symptoms with favorable cosmesis without any cases of recurrence. Drainage should typically be avoided due to risk of recurrence. The single patient treated with drainage wanted to try this intervention before considering other surgical options.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.

 

Table 1

 

Figure 1