Abstract
Purpose :
Conjunctival cavernous hemangioma is a rare, benign vascular lesion accounting for less than 1% of all conjunctival tumors. Very few cases have been published describing the features of these lesions. We performed a retrospective review of vascular conjunctival tumors in a single ocular oncology practice to identify cases of conjunctival cavernous hemangioma, reporting presenting features and clinical course.
Methods :
A retrospective review was performed from 1980 to 2017 to identify all patients in a single tertiary referral practice (Ocular Oncology Service, Wills Eye Hospital) with clinically or histopathologically confirmed conjunctival cavernous hemangioma. Records were reviewed for patient demographics, presenting symptoms, tumor location, largest basal diameter, thickness, imaging characteristics, treatment, and clinical course.
Results :
There were 4 cases of conjunctival cavernous hemangioma identified during the study time period. Patient demographics included mean age at presentation 44 years (median =40, range 20-76), Caucasian (n=3) and African American race (n=1), and female (n=3) and male (n=1) sex. Patients were asymptomatic (n=4) on presentation but sought care after noticing lesion appearance (n=2). Tumor features included unilateral (n=4), left eye (n=3), red/violet color (n=4), and location in superotemporal tarsal conjunctiva (n=1), superior bulbar conjunctiva (n=1), inferotemporal bulbar conjunctiva (n=1), or inferior tarsal and bulbar conjunctiva (n=1). Mean largest basal diameter was 5.1mm (median 4.5, range 1.3-10mm), and thickness was ≤ 1mm for all tumors. Fluorescein angiography was performed on 2 eyes and showed hyperfluorescence of the lesion without leakage. With mean follow-up 18 months (median 10 months, range 8-43months), one patient underwent excisional biopsy with no evidence of recurrence and the remaining 3 tumors were observed with no further growth.
Conclusions :
Conjunctival cavernous hemangioma is a rare tumor, which presents as a red or violet lesion, varying in size and location. This tumor has no apparent predilection for certain age groups, sex, or race. Periodic observation of conjunctival cavernous hemangioma is appropriate given the benign and typically asymptomatic nature of this tumor.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.