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Eyelid Degenerative and Inflammatory Disorders

Acrochordon (skin tag)

Approach to diagnosis

  • Etiology: thought to be caused by skin rubbing
    • Appearance in childhood can be associated with basal cell nevus syndrome.
  • Increased incidence with age, no gender/race predilection
  • Characteristic appearance: pedunculated, fleshy, skin-colored mass
    • Benign, slow growing, usually asymptomatic, sometimes causes irritation
    • Most often seen in neck, axilla, and inguinal region
  • Definitive diagnosis by histopathology

Risk factors

  • Obesity
  • Diabetes

Differential diagnosis

  • Squamous papilloma
  • Verrucca vulgaris
  • Amelanotic nevus

Clinical management

  • Observation
  • Surgical excision
  • Cryotherapy

Complications of treatment

Rare; recurrence uncommon

Squamous papilloma

Approach to diagnosis

  • Unknown etiology; Hyperplasia of squamous epithelium
  • Characteristic appearance: frond-like, papular lesion, often pedunculated
  • Slow growing, usually asymptomatic
  • Definitive diagnosis by histopathology
    • Fibrovascular core covered by acanthotic epithelium, hyperkeratosis

Risk factors

  • Increased incidence with age, no gender/race predilection
  • Most common benign eyelid lesion

Differential diagnosis

  • Verrucca vulgaris
  • Amelanotic nevus
  • Seborrheic keratosis
  • Basal cell carcinoma

Clinical management

  • Observation
  • Surgical excision
  • Laser ablation (CO2, argon)

Complications of treatment

Rare; recurrence uncommon

Seborrheic keratosis (SK)

Approach to diagnosis

  • Unknown etiology; arises from follicular infundibulum, involves aggregation of immature epidermal keratinocytes
  • Increased incidence with age, no gender/race predilection
  • Clinical features: elevated, sometimes pedunculated, rough keratotic surface with variable pigmentation, greasy “stuck-on” appearance
    • Slow growing, usually asymptomatic; sometimes causes irritation
    • Commonly seen on torso and face
    • Clinical variants:
      • Dermatosis papulosa nigra: Multiple deeply pigmented facial SKs in Africans
      • Inverted follicular keratosis: Irritated variant of SK, rapid growth typical
      • Intraepidermal horn cysts: Thick protuberance of keratin from SK
    • Sudden appearance or growth of multiple SKs can herald internal malignancies such as adenocarcinoma of GI or breast (Leser-Trelat sign)
  • Definitive diagnosis by histopathology: Hyperkeratosis, papillomatosis, acanthosis

Risk factors

  • Family history
  • Sun exposure
  • Age

Differential diagnosis

  • Squamous papilloma (pigmented)
  • Nevus
  • Melanoma
  • Pigmented basal cell carcinoma

Clinical management

  • Observation
  • Surgical excision
  • Cryotherapy

Complications of treatment

Rare; recurrence uncommon

Pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia (PEH)

Approach to diagnosis

  • Pseudoneoplastic proliferation of epidermis and adnexal epithelium
  • Can be idiopathic or associated with numerous types of infection (classically mycotic or mycobacterial), inflammation, trauma, or neoplasms (for example, basal cell carcinoma)
  • Epidemiology: increased incidence with age
  • History:
    • Can develop rapidly over weeks
    • Can gradually regress if left untreated for several months
  • Clinical features:
    • Nodular, irregular, crusty lesion, sometimes ulcerative
    • Often resembles cutaneous malignancy
    • Variant: keratoacanthoma (see Squamous Cell Carcinoma)
  • Diagnosis established by histopathology:
    • Irregular invasion of dermis by jagged epidermal masses, horn cysts, mitotic figures, nonspecific inflammation
      • Can be difficult to distinguish from squamous cell carcinoma
    • Inciting organism can be seen if present

Risk factors

Presence of inciting condition

Differential diagnosis

  • Squamous cell carcinoma
  • Basal cell carcinoma

Patient management

  • Observation (can spontaneously regress)
  • Medical therapy
    • Treatment of underlying condition if identified
  • Surgical excision
    • If diagnostic uncertainty exists, consider Mohs excision or frozen section control

Complications of treatment

Scarring, eyelid deformity

Sebaceous hyperplasia

Approach to diagnosis

  • Etiology unknown
  • Epidemiology:
    • Increased incidence with age, most common over 40–50
    • Rare familial forms exist
  • History: gradual onset, chronic course
  • Clinical features:
    • One or more focal tan-yellow papules or diffuse thickening of eyelids
    • Similar to sebaceous adenoma
    • Associated with Muir-Torre syndrome (MTS):
      • Sebaceous neoplasms or keratoacanthoma
      • Internal malignancy (for example, colorectal carcinoma)
      • Presence of sebaceous hyperplasia does not necessitate screening for MTS
  • Diagnosis established by histopathology: Well-differentiated, mature sebaceous lobules

Risk factors

  • Muir-Torre syndrome
  • Family history

Patient management

  • Observation
  • Trichloroacetic acid (small, diffuse lesions)
  • Surgical options:
    • Excision
    • Electrodessication, cautery (small lesions)

Xanthelasma

Approach to diagnosis

  • Etiology: idiopathic, sometimes associated with familial hyperlipidemia
    • 25–70% of patients have normal lipid levels.
    • Some large-scale studies have documented an association between xanthelasma and risk of cardiovascular disease, regardless of serum cholesterol and other risk factors (Christoffersen, BMJ 2011).
  • Epidemiology:
    • 1–3% incidence in general population
    • Typically appears in middle age, slight female preponderance
      • Appearance under 40 years more likely to signify hyperlipidemia
  • History: gradual onset, usually static, but can fluctuate in size/number
  • Clinical features:
    • Flat or mildly elevated, yellow, subepidermal placoid lesions
    • Usually bilateral, can involve all 4 lids, medial location common
  • Diagnosis usually clinical:
    • Atypical appearance should raise suspicion for xanthogranulomatous disease (see below)
  • Histopathology: infiltration of superficial reticular dermis foamy histiocytes, Touton giant cells sometimes present

Risk factors

Hyperlipidemia

Differential diagnosis

  • Xanthoma
  • Xanthogranuloma

Patient management

  • Observation
  • Treatment of hyperlipidemia if present:
    • Normalization of lipids can lead to regression
  • Trichloroacetic or bichloroacetic acid
  • Laser ablation (CO2, argon, erbium-YAG, pulsed dye)
  • Surgical excision:
    • Typically full-thickness, but subepithelial excision if lipid infiltration extends beneath the surface
  • Recurrence common regardless of treatment modality:
    • Highest incidence of recurrence within first year

Complications of treatment

Cicatricial ectropion/lagophthalmos

Disease-related complications

Cardiovascular risk related to hyperlipidemia

Atopic dermatitis

Approach to diagnosis

  • Unknown etiology; cell-mediated immune defects
    • TH2-cell activation with increased synthesis of IL-4 and IgE
  • Epidemiology:
    • Manifests in infancy or childhood
    • 2% of population affected by atopic dermatitis
  • Characteristic triad:
    • Eczematous dermatitis
    • Allergic rhinitis
    • Asthma
  • Clinical features:
    • Eyelid findings: eczema, pruritis, edema, violaceous or brown discoloration (“allergic shiner”), lichenification, periocular milia
      • Dennie-Morgan fold: skin crease from medial canthus to lower lid
      • Secondary staphylococcal infection can occur.
    • Ocular findings: atopic keratoconjunctivitis, conjunctival papillae, Horner-Trantas dots, inferior pannus, symblepharon
      • Keratoconus: 1.5–6.7% incidence in atopic dermatitis
    • Skin hypersensitivity to numerous stimuli/agents
  • Establishing the diagnosis
    • History and physical exam
    • Elevated serum IgE

Differential diagnosis

  • Other forms of dermatitis: contact, seborrheic, lichen simplex chronicus
  • Blepharochalasis syndrome

Risk factors

Family history of atopy

Patient management

  • Natural history
    • Infantile stage: eczematous dermatitis affecting extensor surfaces (tops of feet, back of hands, knees, face)
    • Childhood phase: flexural sites (popliteal/antecubital fossae)
    • Periodic exacerbations and remissions
  • Medical therapy
    • Break the “itch-scratch” cycle: cool moist compresses, bland ointments, antihistamines
    • Acute flares: topical corticosteroids (5–10 days)
    • Keratoconjuctivitis: topical antihistamines, mast-cell-stabilizers, corticosteroids, or NSAIDs
    • Secondary staphylococcal infection: topical antibiotics
    • Topical calcineurin inhibitors Pimecrolimus and Tacrolimus are both indicated for the treatment of atopic dermatitis.
      • Safe and effective for sensitive areas, particularly given the low risk of causing atrophy.
      • Negligible systemic levels after topical application.
      • Boxed warning in US due to theoretical risk of lymphoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers, despite ample evidence suggesting no increased risk with topical use.
  • Surgery: not indicated
  • Co-management with dermatology recommended

Complications of treatment

  • Steroids: skin atrophy, glaucoma, cataract, susceptibility to infection
  • Prevention by using short courses of treatment and avoiding long-term use

Contact dermatitis

Approach to diagnosis

  • Etiology: exposure to offending agent
    • Cosmetics, cleaning products, preservatives, metals, ophthalmic medications, and others
    • Can be irritant or allergic (type IV hypersensitivity)
  • Epidemiology: female predominance
  • Clinical features:
    • Acute: edema, erythema, pruritis, vesicles, weeping
    • Chronic: erythema, lichenification, hyperpigmentation
  • Patch testing with suspected offending agent

Differential diagnosis

  • Other forms of dermatitis: atopic, seborrheic, lichen simplex chronicus
  • Blepharochalasis syndrome

Patient management

  • Remove offending agent
  • Medical therapy
    • Cool compresses
    • Topical corticosteroid ointment (5–10 day course)
    • Oral corticosteroids can be considered for acute cases

Complications of treatment and their prevention

  • Steroids: skin atrophy, glaucoma, cataract, susceptibility to infection
  • Prevention by using short courses of treatment and avoiding long-term use

Seborrheic dermatitis

Approach to diagnosis

  • Etiology unknown; associated with increased sebaceous gland number and function
    • Yeast (Pityrosporon ovale) thought to play a role
  • Epidemiology:
    • Infancy (“cradle cap”)
    • Puberty through adulthood
    • Male predilection
    • Affects 2–5% of population
  • History: gradual onset, worse during winter
  • Clinical features:
    • Greasy scaling, patchy erythema involving scalp, central face, lids, brow, ears, presternal skin, axilla, inguinal area
    • Blepharitis, madarosis, keratoconjunctivitis
  • Histopathology:
    • Focal parakeratosis
    • Pyknotic neutrophils
    • Acanthosis
    • Spongiosis
    • Nonspecific inflammation of dermis

Risk factors

  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Epilepsy
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • AIDS

Differential diagnosis

  • Psoriasis
  • Impetigo
  • Dermatophytosis
  • Lichen simplex chronicus
  • Discoid lupus

Patient management

  • Natural history: chronic course with exacerbations and remissions
  • Medical therapy:
    • Anti-dandruff shampoos
    • Ketoconazole shampoo 2% to face during shower or cream
    • Corticosteroid cream
    • Lid scrubs, topical antibiotics
  • Radiation therapy: UV radiation helpful (condition improves in summer, flares in fall)
  • Comanagement with dermatology recommended

Complications of treatment

Steroids:

  • Skin atrophy
  • Glaucoma
  • Cataract
  • Susceptibility to infection

Lamellar ichthyosis

Approach to diagnosis

  • Etiology: genetic, usually autosomal recessive
    • Identified mutations on chromosomes 14q11 and 2q33-35
    • Abnormal keratin formation
    • Subtype of ichthyosiform dermatoses which also include:
      • Dominant ichthyosis vulgaris
      • X-linked ichthyosis
      • Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis
  • Epidemiology
    • Incidence 1:250,000–300,000
  • History
    • Disease evident at birth
      • “Collodion baby”: encasement in transparent, parchment-like membrane that spontaneously sheds within 2 weeks
      • Large scales develop after membrane sheds
  • Clinical features
    • Cicatricial ectropion and lagophthalmos (Figure 1A)
    • Generalized fish-like scales over entire body (Figure 1B)



Figure 1. Two-week-old old infant with lamellar ichthyosis. A. Cicatricial lagophthalmos and ectropion of all four lids. B. Generalized scaling as demonstrated on abdomen (Oestreicher 1990).

    • Corneal scarring: might not be completely attributable to exposure (Cruz 2000)
  • Testing and evaluation for establishing the diagnosis
    • Physical findings
    • Skin biopsy
    • Genetic testing

Risk factors

Family history

Differential diagnosis

Limited

Patient management

  • Natural history: chronic and unremitting
  • Medical therapy
    • Skin moisturizers
    • Less severe in warm, humid climates
  • Surgery: anterior lamellar grafts for cicatricial ectropion
    • Donor sites for full-thickness skin grafts limited due to generalized involvement
      • Penile foreskin (Uthoff 1994)
      • Maternal allograft (Das 2010)
    • Oral mucous membrane graft (Nayak 2011)
    • Human engineered skin (Culican 2002)
    • Advancement flaps

Disease-related complications

Disease-related complications are syndrome-related: Refsum syndrome, Gaucher syndrome.

Dermatomyositis

Approach to diagnosis

  • Etiology: autoimmune inflammatory vasculopathy
    • Often idiopathic, especially juvenile form
      • Infectious trigger postulated
    • Medications (for example, atorvastatin, phenytoin)
    • Paraneoplastic: ovarian or gastric carcinoma, lymphoma, lung cancer, and others
  • Epidemiology
    • Can present in children (5–15 years) or middle-aged adults
    • Female preponderance
  • History: variable presentation, rash usually appears early
  • Clinical features
    • Bilateral heliotrope rash on upper lids or malar region (Figure 2)


Figure 2. Heliotrope rash and edema of both upper eyelids in 16-year-old male with juvenile dermatomyositis (Taban 2006).

      • Diffuse purple discoloration or scaly erythema — variant: supraciliary “purple line”
      • Periorbital edema
      • Pox-like scars (late stage)
    • Gottron’s papules (pathognomonic): scaly erythematous plaques over knuckles, elbows, and knees
    • Mechanic’s hand: fissured, scaly, hyperkeratotic, hyperpigmented hands
    • “Shawl” pattern rash over shoulders/arms/upper back/anterior neck/chest
    • Calcinosis cutis (mostly in children)
    • Dysphagia, proximal muscle weakness
    • Arthritis, interstitial pneumonitis, visceral vasculopathy
    • Cardiac conduction defects
    • Overlap syndrome: concurrent connective tissue disorder
      • Rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, SLE, polyarteritis nodosa, and others
  • Testing and evaluation for establishing the diagnosis
    • Labs: creatine phosphokinase (CPK), aldolase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), liver enzymes
    • Autoantibodies: ANA, Jo-1, anti-EJ, SRP, Mi-2, others
    • Electromyography
    • Muscle biopsy
      • Mixed B- and T-cell perivascular infiltrate
      • Perifascicular muscle fiber atrophy
    • Rule out presence of malignancy as indicated

Risk factors

  • Viral infection, possibly Lyme disease
  • Cancer: ovarian, gastric, lymphoma, others

Differential diagnosis

  • Lichen planus
  • Seborrheic dermatitis,
  • SLE, psoriasis
  • Contact dermatitis
  • Atopic dermatitis
  • Trichinosis

Patient management

  • Natural history: chronic course with exacerbations and remissions
    • Juvenile form: <10% mortality rate (historically as high as 50%)
    • Adult: 80% 5-year survival
  • Medical therapy
    • Oral corticosteroids: 0.5–1.5 mg/kg/day until serum CPK normalizes, and then taper over 12 months
    • Immunosuppressants: methotrexate, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, hydroxychloroquine
    • IV immunoglobulin
    • Sun avoidance
    • Physical therapy for atrophy and contractures
  • Surgery: limited role
  • Other management considerations
    • Treat overlap syndromes if present
    • Treat underlying malignancies if present
  • Long-term treatment required

Complications of treatment

Medication-specific

Disease-related complications

  • Pulmonary interstitial fibrosis
  • Dysphagia
  • Cardiac dysfunction
  • Infection

Scleroderma

Approach to diagnosis

Two major forms:

  • Localized scleroderma (morphea)
    • Patterns of involvement: circumscribed, linear, generalized, bullous, deep
      • Linear scleroderma can involve frontoparietal region (en coup de sabre)
  • Systemic scleroderma (progressive systemic sclerosis)
    • Multisystem involvement of skin, lungs, heart, GI tract
    • Potentially fatal
    • Clinical variant: CREST syndrome
      • Calcinosis cutis, Raynaud’s phenomenon, esophageal dysfunction, sclerodactyly, telangiectasia
  • Etiology unknown
    • Autoimmune cutaneous sclerosis
    • Possible association with Borrelia burgdorferi
  • Epidemiology
    • Localized: onset typically within first two decades.
    • Systemic: middle age
    • Female preponderance
  • History: initial inflammatory phase followed by quiescence
  • Clinical features
    • Localized
      • Cutaneous white or brown plaques, sometimes with violaceous border
      • Patterns: single, linear, or widespread
      • Frontoparietal: unilateral linear plaque or scar extending from brow to forehead — en coup de sabre, “strike of the sword” — can cause hemifacial atrophy and involve orbit, leading to enophthalmos
      • Other ocular findings (uncommon): anterior uveitis, episcleritis, strabismus, Brown syndrome
    • Systemic
      • Diffuse cutaneous sclerosis, acrosclerosis, flexion contractures
      • Can cause periorbital edema (early)
      • Mask-like facies, small sharp nose, microstomia
  • Testing and evaluation for establishing the diagnosis
    • Laboratory abnormalities: ANA, ssDNA, RF, polyclonal IgG and IgM hypergammaglobulinemia
    • Histopathology: vascular changes, deposition of collagen in dermis and subcutis, nonspecific inflammation

Risk factors

Unknown

Differential diagnosis

  • Localized:
    • Lichen sclerosis et atrophicus
    • Progressive hemifacial atrophy (Parry-Rhomberg syndrome)
  • Systemic:
    • Mixed connective tissue disease
    • Systemic lupus erythematosis
    • Dermatomyositis
    • Graft-versus-host disease
  • Patient management
  • Medical therapy: systemic disease
    • Corticosteroids beneficial early
    • No effective long-term treatments; numerous experimental agents under investigation
  • Surgery: en coup de sabre
    • Orbitofacial reconstruction for hemifacial atrophy, micro-fat grafting

Disease-related complications

  • Systemic
    • Cardiac conduction defects
    • Heart failure
    • Pulmonary fibrosis
    • Renal failure
    • Malignant hypertension
  • Localized
    • Epilepsy
    • Arthritis
    • Flexion contractures

Periorbital discoid lupus erythematosis (DLE)

Approach to diagnosis

  • Subtype of cutaneous lupus erythematosis (CLE)
    • Autoimmune etiology, incompletely understood
      • Upregulated IFN-α, impaired clearance of immune complexes and apoptotic cells
      • Periorbital involvement uncommon (6%) in DLE
  • Epidemiology
    • Female predilection (8:1)
    • Typically middle-aged (median age 40)
  • History
    • Typically isolated skin lesions; about 90% have no concomitant systemic/pathologic diagnosis at presentation
    • Chronic course, typical time to presentation 2 years
  • Clinical features
    • Symptoms: localized redness, irritation
    • Erythematous plaque, scaling, madarosis
      • Telangiectasia, ulceration, edema less common
      • Can mimic epithelial malignancy
      • Isolated or multifocal, unilateral or bilateral
    • Associated lesions on face/ears/scalp: about 30%

Diagnostic testing:

  • Biopsy:
    • Histopathology
      • Interface dermatitis
      • Vacuolar degeneration
      • Perifollicular/perieccrine inflammation
      • Keratinocyte necrosis (Civatte bodies)
      • Follicular plugging
      • Intradermal mucin deposition
      • Pseudocarcinomatous hyperplasia
    • Immunoflourescence: lupus band test
  • Antinuclear antibody (ANA) test: 18% positive

Risk factors

  • Smoking
  • UV exposure (disease exacerbation)

Differential diagnosis

  • Premalignant/malignant lesions: actinic keratosis, squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, sebaceous carcinoma, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma
  • Inflammatory: blepharitis, chalazion, eczema, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, sarcoidosis
  • Infectious: preseptal cellulitis, orbital cellulitis, mycotic dermatitis

Management

  • Disease course typically chronic, unremitting, nonprogressive
  • Medical treatment
    • Oral antimalarials: first-line therapy
      • Hydroxychloriquine 6.5 mg/kg/day (typically 200 mg bid); response usually seen within 2–3 months; can reduce to 200 mg qd
      • Addition of mepacrine 100 mg/day if inadequate response
      • Substitute chloroquine 4 mg/kg/day if combination fails
      • Maintain treatment for 1–2 years
    • Corticosteroids: often inadequate as monotherapy
      • Topical (0.05% fluocinonide), intralesional, or oral
    • Other topicals
      • Isotretinoin
      • Tacrolimus
      • Mycophenolate

      Other topicals

      • Thalidomide
      • Methotrexate
      • Azathioprine
      • Dapsone
      • Oral retinoids
      • Clofazimine
  • Surgical excision: rarely used
  • Consider referral to dermatology and/or rheumatology

Complications of treatment

  • Medication-specific
  • Surgical excision can lead to lid retraction/ectropion

Disease-related complications

  • Unrecognized/untreated periorbital DLE can lead to cicatricial complications: trichiasis, ectropion, entropion, retraction, lagophthalmos, symblepharon
  • Minority of patients w/ DLE (5%) progress to systemic lupus (SLE)
    • Ocular manifestations: keratoconjunctivitis sicca, peripheral ulcerative keratitis, interstitial keratitis, retinal vasculopathy
    • Systemic complications: cardiac, renal, pulmonary, hematologic, arthritis, dermatologic (malar “butterfly” rash), neurological, psychiatric

Adult orbital xanthogranulomatous disease

Approach to diagnosis

  • Classification:
    • Adult onset xanthogranuloma (AOX)
    • Adult onset asthma with periocular xanthogranuloma (AAPOX)
    • Necrobiotic xanthogranuloma (NXG)
    • Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD)
  • Etiology: idiopathic
  • Epidemiology
    • Can presents in early adults to elderly patients
    • Male preponderance: AAPOX, ECD
    • No gender predilection: AOX, NXG
  • Clinical features
    • Bilateral, indurated yellow-orange subcutaneous lesions
      • “Atypical xanthelasma”
      • Can be ulcerated in NXG
      • Often extend deep into orbit
    • Systemic associations:
      • AOX: typically isolated
      • AAPOX: adult onset asthma
        • Lid lesions usually appear months after onset of asthma
      • NXG: paraproteinemia, multiple myeloma
      • ECD: infiltration and fibrosis of internal organs — heart, lungs, retroperitoneum, bones, etc.
  • Testing and evaluation for establishing the diagnosis
    • Histopathology: sheets of mononucleated foamy histiocytes infiltrating orbicularis/orbital tissue, lymphocytes, plasma cells, Touton giant cells
  • Follicles, germinal centers, fibrosis
  • Immunohistochemistry: CD68, CD163, factor XIIIa

Risk factors

Unknown

Differential diagnosis

  • Xanthelasma
  • JXG
  • Sarcoid
  • Amyloid
  • Sclerosing orbital inflammation
  • Lymphoma, other orbital tumors

Patient management

  • Natural history: chronic unremitting course
    • ECD: typically aggressive course, mortality >50%
  • Medical therapy
    • AOX, NXG: intralesional corticosteroid injection (Elner 2006)
    • ECD: systemic steroids, chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine), interferon-α
  • Radiation therapy: NXG, ECD, AAPOX
  • Surgical debulking
    • Recurrence possible
  • Multidisciplinary treatment approach highly recommended

Disease-related complications

The most severe are related to systemic fibrosis (ECD) and paraproteinemia or myeloma (NXG).

Amyloidosis

Approach to diagnosis

  • Classification
    • Localized or systemic
      • Orbital and conjunctival amyloid usually localized
      • Eyelid amyloid usually associated with systemic disease (most common site of skin involvement)
    • Primary or secondary
    • AL (light-chain deposition) or AA (A-protein)
  • Etiology
    • Primary: hereditary, idiopathic
    • Secondary
      • B-cell or plasma cell dyscrasia (e.g., multiple myeloma) — common cause of eyelid amyloid
      • Reactive (secondary): rheumatoid arthritis, dermatomyositis, scleroderma, inflammatory bowel disease, tuberculosis
  • Epidemiology: typically sixth decade, no gender predilection
  • Clinical features
    • Amyloid deposition throughout body (systemic)
      • Skin, liver, heart, kidney, tongue (macroglossia), etc.
    • Carpal tunnel syndrome
    • Lid lesions:
      • Multiple bilateral confluent papules, waxy pink or yellow
      • Tend to bleed spontaneously or with slight trauma (“pinch purpura”)

Testing and evaluation for establishing the diagnosis

  • Labs: thrombocytosis, proteinuria, increased serum creatinine, increased IgG
  • Workup for immune cell dyscrasias
  • Skin biopsy: amyloid deposition in dermis
    • Acellular lightly eosinophilic material
      • Staining with Congo red
      • Apple-green birefringence
  • Risk factors: family history, associated conditions as stated above
  • Differential diagnosis
    • Thrombocytopenic purpura
    • Scurvy
    • Molluscum contagiosum
    • Other lid tumors
  • Patient management
    • Natural history: chronic, unremitting; systemic AL disease often fatal
    • Medical therapy
      • Treatment of underlying disorders, if present
      • Chemotherapy – high dose melphalan
      • Steroids
      • Stem cell transplantation
    • Radiation therapy (controversial)
    • Surgical debulking (Patrinely 1992)
      • High risk of bleeding due to accumulation of amyloid around blood vessels
      • Recurrence common
    • Multidisciplinary treatment approach recommended for systemic disease

References and additional resources

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  2. Al-Nuaimi D, Bhatt PR, Steeples L, et al. Amyloidosis of the orbit and adnexae. Orbit. 2012;31:287‑298.
  3. Baba JE, Frangieh GT, Iliff WJ, et al. Morphea of the eyelids. Ophthalmology. 1982;89:1285‑1288.
  4. Butala S, Paller AS. Optimizing topical management of atopic dermatitis. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2022 May;128(5):488-504.
  5. Beltrani VS. Eyelid dermatitis. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2001;1:380‑388.
  6. Bergman R. The pathogenesis and clinical significance of xanthelasma palpebrarum. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1994;30:236‑242.
  7. Christoffersen M, Frikke-Schmidt R, Schnohr P, Jensen GB, Nordestgaard BG, Tybjaerg-Hansen A. Xanthelasmata, arcus corneae, and ischaemic vascular disease and death in general population: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2011;343:d5497.
  8. Cruz AAV, Menezes FAH, Chaves R, et al. Eyelid abnormalities in lamellar ichthyosis. Ophthalmology. 2000;107:1895‑1898.
  9. Culican SM, Custer PL. Repair of cicatricial ectropion in an infant with harlequin ichthyosis using engineered human skin. Am J Ophthalmol. 2002;134(3):442‑443.
  10. Das S, Honavar SG, Dhepe N, Naik MN. Maternal skin allograft for cicatricial ectropion in congenital ichthyosis. Ophthal Plast Reconstr Surg. 2010;26:42‑43.
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  16. Jakobiec FA, Mills MD, Hidayat AA, et al. Periocular xanthogranulomas associated with severe adult-onset asthma. Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc. 1993;91:99‑125.
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