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Pleomorphic adenoma of the lacrimal gland
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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[Symptoms of lacrimal adenoma
It manifests itself in the 5th decade of life in the form of painless, slowly increasing swelling in the uppermost area of the orbit and has a duration usually more than one year.
- A tumor growing out of an orbital lobe is a smooth, dense, painless formation in the fossa of the lacrimal gland, displacing the eyeball in the lower lobe direction.
- Growth posteriorly can cause exophthalmos, ophthalmoplegia and the appearance of folds of the choroid.
Less often, the tumor develops from the palpebral lobe and tends to grow in the forward direction, accompanied by an increase in the upper eyelid and does not lead to a shift in the eyeball.
CT scan reveals a rounded or oval formation with an even contour with expansion, but without bone destruction in the fossa of the lacrimal gland. Education can also squeeze the eyeball.
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Treatment of lacrimal adenoma
Treatment consists in surgical removal. It is recommended to avoid biopsies in order to prevent the dissemination of the tumor into the surrounding orbital tissue, although this is not always possible due to the uncertainty of the diagnosis. Tumors of the palpebral lobe are usually excised within the healthy tissues using the anterior (transfascial) orbitotomim method. At tumors of an orbital share carry out lateral orbitotomy:
- dissect temporal muscle;
- drill the underlying bone for the subsequent application of the welds;
- remove the outer wall of the orbit and the tumor;
- restore the temporal muscle and periosteum.
The prognosis is quite favorable with complete removal and under condition of preventing tissue rupture. Incomplete removal or preliminary biopsy contributes to the dissemination of tumor cells in surrounding tissues, relapse with possible malignancy.