Orbital Tumours in Northern Malaysia: A Five-Year Review

Background: This study was conducted with the objective to examine demographic statistics and histopathological diagnoses of orbital biopsies from cases referred to the Oculoplastic subspecialty of the Ophthalmology department in Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah, Kedah, from 2016 to 2020.

Method: This study is a case series of 28 patients who underwent orbital biopsy.

Result: A total of 34 orbital biopsies from 28 patients were recorded. The mean age was 48.3 ± 19.1 years old. 22 (78.4%) cases manifested unilaterally and six (21.4%) manifested bilaterally. The commonest presentations were orbital mass (36.6%) and proptosis (24.4%). The mean duration of the presentation was 16.2 ± 19.5 months. Fourteen (50.0%) patients underwent orbital biopsy within six months of symptoms. 52.8% of the tumours are situated at supero-temporal region of the orbit. 53.0% (18) situated in extraconal space of orbit. Out of all, 23 (67.6%) cases were benign and 11 (32.4%) cases were malignant. All were primary in origin (100%). The commonest orbital tumours reported were malignant lymphoma (29.4%), reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (14.7%), non-caseating granulomatous inflammation (11.8%), non-granulomatous inflammation (5.9%) and cavernous haemangioma (5.9%). Of all 10 malignant lymphomas from eight patients (two were bilateral eyes) were all mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) of primary non-Hodgkin lymphomas. None of the cases were reported to be metastasis from the systemic spread. The majority of patients' eyes (20, 58.8%) remained the same visual acuity post-biopsy while six (17.6%) eyes had improvement in visual acuity and eight (23.5%) eyes had reduced postoperative visual acuity.

Conclusion: Malignant tumours are more common in the elder age group especially malignant lymphoma which is in contrast to Caucasian populations. Understanding the relative incidence of these various orbital tumours is essential to patient evaluation and management.

Primary Synovial Sarcoma of the Orbit: A Case Report and Update on Diagnostic Techniques

Synovial sarcoma is a malignant mesenchymal tumor that most commonly occurs in the deep soft tissue of the extremities in adolescents and young adults. Primary periocular synovial sarcoma is extremely rare with only 11 previously reported cases. We describe a 23-year-old woman who presented with a 1-year history of painful, progressive right upper eyelid swelling. She was subsequently found to have a superomedial orbital mass on CT scan. Pathologic evaluation revealed a spindle cell neoplasm with SS18 (SYT) rearrangement by fluorescence in situ hybridization studies, consistent with a monophasic synovial sarcoma. This case describes the clinical, radiographic, histopathologic, and molecular cytogenetic features of this rare orbital neoplasm, with an emphasis on the emerging diagnostic techniques and novel therapies.

Ipsilateral Lymphatic and Venous Malformations Affecting the Midface Area

A 22-year-old woman presented with progressive swelling of the nasal conjunctiva in the left eye. Anterior segment examination revealed a diffuse cystic appearance to the inferonasal bulbar conjunctiva and plica semilunaris. Anterior segment swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) revealed clear hyporeflective spaces demarcated by hyperreflective septae in the affected conjunctiva, consistent with the diagnosis of lymphatic malformation (LM). Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well circumscribed intraconal mass located inferonasally in the left orbit. Systemic examination revealed a lesion similar to LM on the left hard palate. The left conjunctival mass was excised subtotally. Subsequently, a transconjunctival anterior orbitotomy was performed and the left orbital mass was completely removed intact. Histopathologically, the conjunctival mass was diagnosed as LM and the orbital mass as venous malformation (VM). This case represents a rare coexistence of histopathologically proven conjunctival LM and orbital VM as well as a presumed LM of the hard palate, all 3 lesions occurring in the ipsilateral midface area.