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Biomedical subjects

Ralph C Eagle

Publications and source records attributed to Ralph C Eagle.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

Conjunctival mascaroma masquerading as melanoma.

PURPOSE: To describe a conjunctival mass composed of keratin with mascara deposition that clinically simulated a melanoma. METHODS: A 50-year-old woman, who used mascara for 20 years, was referred for a conjunctival mass that was suspected to be melanoma. Excisional biopsy was performed, and the lesion was studied histopathologically. RESULTS: The lesion consisted of conjunctival epithelium with a keratin plaque that contained multiple dark particles that exhibited birefringence with polarized light. The final diagnosis was conjunctival hyperkeratosis containing foreign bodies compatible with mascara deposition. The patient continues to use mascara, and there is no recurrence after 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Deposition of mascara can assume tumorous proportions and simulate a conjunctival melanoma.

Conjunctival Diseases↗
PubMed2005

Conjunctival epithelial involvement by eyelid sebaceous carcinoma. The 2003 J. Howard Stokes lecture.

PURPOSE: To determine incidence and distribution of conjunctival epithelial involvement by eyelid sebaceous carcinoma and to make recommendations regarding its management. METHODS: The medical records were reviewed retrospectively on patients with histopathologically confirmed sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelids managed at the Oncology Service at Wills Eye Hospital. Those tumors with involvement of the conjunctival epithelium were identified and selected for further study. The incidence and distribution of epithelial involvement was determined, based on histopathology of resected tumors and map biopsies. The incidence of metastasis and tumor-related mortality was determined. Based on these findings and personal surgical experience, recommendations are made regarding management of eyelid sebaceous carcinoma with involvement of the conjunctival epithelium. RESULTS: Of 60 patients with sebaceous carcinoma, epithelial involvement of the conjunctiva was identified in 28 (47%). Of the 28 cases, the neoplasm affected the following sites: superior tarsal and fornical conjunctiva in 28 (100%), inferior tarsal conjunctiva in 19 (68%), inferior fornical conjunctiva in 18 (64%), superior bulbar conjunctiva in 19 (68%), and inferior bulbar conjunctiva in 16 (57%). The caruncle was involved in 15 (54%) and the cornea in 11 (39%). Metastasis occurred in 3 of the 28 cases (11%). Map biopsies, combined with cryotherapy, topical chemotherapy, local surgical resection, and orbital exenteration, were used to achieve local control. CONCLUSIONS: Eyelid sebaceous carcinoma was found to exhibit epithelial involvement of the conjunctiva in 47% of cases, predominantly in the superior tarsal and fornical conjunctiva and less often in the inferior tarsal conjunctiva, caruncle, and cornea. Treatment of this condition is challenging, and map biopsy, cryotherapy, topical chemotherapy, and newer surgical methods are being used more often by our group.

Adenocarcinoma, Sebaceous↗
PubMed2004

Progressive enlargement of acquired retinal astrocytoma in 2 cases.

PURPOSE: To document 2 cases of progressively enlarging retinal astrocytoma that caused exudative retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage, and tumor seeding, simulating retinoblastoma in 1 case and choroidal melanoma in the other. DESIGN: Interventional case reports. PARTICIPANTS: Two patients. METHODS: Two patients with visual loss from an atypical, enlarging amelanotic retinal mass were evaluated. The first patient, a 14 year-old otherwise healthy girl, had a noncalcified gelatinous retinal mass with prepapillary involvement and surrounding retinal traction, as well as overlying vitreous hemorrhage and vitreous seeds. Over 37 months, the tumor grew in basal dimension from 4 mm to 10 mm. Retinal astrocytoma was suspected, but the presence of tumor enlargement and vitreous seeding raised concern for possible retinoblastoma. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy was performed. The second patient, a 33-year-old woman, had an amelanotic mass develop in the macula of her amblyopic left eye. Over 2 years, the mass enlarged to 9.5 mm in basal dimension and 6.3 mm in thickness, and total serous retinal detachment developed. Choroidal melanoma with retinal invasion was clinically suspected. Enucleation was performed. RESULTS: In patient 1, cytologic examination revealed bland spindle cells with fibrillar cytoplasm consistent with an astrocytic tumor of the retina. Enucleation was subsequently performed because of continued tumor growth, progressive retinal detachment, and visual loss. Histopathologic examination confirmed astrocytoma of the retina and optic disc. In patient 2, enucleation revealed astrocytoma of the retina and optic disc with total retinal detachment. There was no evidence of systemic tuberous sclerosis in either patient. CONCLUSIONS: Retinal astrocytoma can show progressive enlargement, retinal detachment, and vitreous seeding, findings that can mislead the clinician toward the diagnosis of retinoblastoma or choroidal melanoma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Conjunctival metastasis as initial sign of disseminated cutaneous melanoma.

PURPOSE: To describe a patient with conjunctival metastasis as the initial manifestation of metastasis from a cutaneous melanoma. DESIGN: Single interventional case report. METHODS: A 48-year-old woman with a history of cutaneous axillary melanoma developed a rapidly growing conjunctival mass. Subsequent systemic evaluation disclosed asymptomatic liver metastasis. The conjunctival lesion was resected. RESULTS: Histopathologic evaluation of the conjunctival tumor disclosed an epithelioid cell melanoma located in the conjunctival stroma, without appreciable junctional activity, compatible with metastatic melanoma. CONCLUSIONS: Conjunctival metastasis from cutaneous melanoma can rarely be the initial manifestation of disseminated melanoma.

Conjunctival Neoplasms↗
PubMed2004

Sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelids: personal experience with 60 cases.

OBJECTIVE: To describe clinical features, management, and prognosis of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid and adjacent structures. DESIGN: Single-center retrospective interventional case series. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty consecutive patients with sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid and adjacent structures. METHODS: Retrospective chart review and literature review. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Presenting features, sites of origin, location, growth patterns, management, histopathologic findings, incidence of recurrence, metastasis, and mortality. RESULTS: The median age at referral was 72 years, with 73% female. Four patients had prior irradiation to the area where the sebaceous carcinoma developed. Initial clinical diagnoses elsewhere were sebaceous carcinoma (32%), blepharoconjunctivitis (25%), chalazion (20%), basal cell carcinoma (13%), and squamous cell carcinoma (10%). Initial histopathologic diagnoses elsewhere were sebaceous carcinoma (50%), squamous cell carcinoma (18%), basal cell carcinoma (8%), and others or not available (24%). Initial anatomic sites were upper eyelid (75%), lower eyelid (22%), caruncle (2%), and bulbar conjunctiva (2% [1 case]). Orbital exenteration was necessary in 13%. Recently introduced techniques of posterior lamellar resection of the eyelids with reconstruction (7%) hopefully will decrease this incidence in the future. Pathologically, 47% showed intraepithelial (pagetoid) involvement, 27% of sebaceous carcinomas arose from the meibomian glands, and 18% arose from both meibomian and Zeis glands. Local recurrence developed in 18%, metastasis in 8%, and death from metastasis in 6%. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the fact that the clinical features of sebaceous carcinoma have been widely reported, the diagnosis was suspected initially in only 32% of patients at first examination elsewhere and in only 50% at histopathologic examination elsewhere. Orbital exenteration was necessary in 13%, mostly patients seen in the earlier years of the study. With more recently employed treatment methods, there is a tendency to avoid exenteration and to use more conservative methods of treatment. It is hoped that these modern therapeutic approaches will result in fewer cases of recurrence and metastasis.

Adenocarcinoma, Sebaceous↗
PubMed2004

Contralateral blindness from chiasmal extension of unsuspected choroidal melanoma.

An 80-year-old woman with a prior diagnosis of age-related macular degeneration in her left eye had rapidly progressive visual loss in her right eye. Orbital MRI revealed a mass involving the left optic nerve and chiasm, interpreted by a radiologist as optic nerve sheath meningioma. Further review of the MRI revealed a mass inside the left eye, characteristic of choroidal melanoma, with apparent extension through the optic nerve to the chiasm and adjacent tissues. Orbital biopsy revealed mixed cell-type melanoma. This case demonstrates that unsuspected choroidal melanoma can invade the optic nerve and chiasm, causing contralateral visual loss. Contralateral blindness as the initial complaint from an unsuspected choroidal melanoma is extremely unusual if not unique.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Calcified orbital cyst simulating a malignant lacrimal gland tumor in an adult.

A 56-year-old woman with left periocular pain was discovered on CT to have a partially calcified, circumscribed cystic lesion in the lacrimal gland fossa, suggestive of a malignant lacrimal gland tumor. Adjacent bone fossa formation without erosion was noted. Histopathologic examination of the excised mass disclosed a cyst with chronic granulomatous inflammation and calcification of the cyst wall. The combination of chronic pain, cystic changes, and calcification in a lacrimal gland fossa mass in an adult should suggest a malignant neoplasm, but a long-standing orbital cyst with calcification of its rim can produce the same features.

Calcinosis↗
PubMed2004

Aggressive retinal astrocytomas in four patients with tuberous sclerosis complex.

OBJECTIVE: To report the clinical and histopathologic findings of retinal astrocytic tumors that showed progressive growth in four patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). METHODS: Four young children each developed an enlarging retinal neoplasm that eventually necessitated enucleation of the affected eye. The systemic findings, clinical course, and histopathologic findings were reviewed. RESULTS: Each patient had a progressively enlarging retinal mass associated with a total exudative retinal detachment and neovascular glaucoma. Enucleation was necessary in each case because the affected eye became blind and painful. The mean patient age at enucleation was 7 years, and the median age was 3 years. At the time of enucleation the tumors ranged from 10 to 20 mm in basal diameter and from 10 to 25 mm in thickness. Histopathologic studies of each eye revealed a giant cell astrocytoma that had produced a total exudative retinal detachment. The tumor cells showed positive immunoreactivity to neuron-specific enolase and glial fibrillary acidic protein. The retinal neoplasms in these cases were identical histopathologically to the subependymal giant cell astrocytoma that typifies TSC in the brain. One tumor filled the entire eye and perforated the globe. Although the lesions simulated retinoblastoma clinically, each patient had ocular and systemic findings of TSC, supporting the diagnosis of astrocytic hamartoma. CONCLUSIONS: Although retinal astrocytic lesions of TSC generally are stationary, they can sometimes grow relentlessly and cause severe ocular complications. Patients with retinal astrocytic hamartomas should have serial ophthalmic evaluations because of this possibility.

Astrocytoma↗
PubMed2003

Histopathologic findings in eyes with retinoblastoma treated only with chemoreduction.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the histopathologic findings in the eyes with retinoblastoma that had been treated only with chemoreduction. DESIGN: Clinicopathologic series. Study Material Ten eyes of 8 patients with retinoblastoma that were enucleated after therapy consisting only of systemic chemotherapy (chemoreduction). METHODS: All cases received a chemoreduction regimen including a combination of intravenous carboplatin, etoposide phosphate, and vincristine sulfate. Adjuvant treatment to the tumor was not provided in any case. The enucleated globes were studied by routine light microscopy. Main Outcome Measure Histopathologic features of retinoblastoma following chemoreduction. RESULTS: At presentation, there were 8 eyes in Reese-Ellsworth group V, 1 eye in group IV, and 1 eye in group III. After chemoreduction (mean, 4 cycles; range, 1-6 cycles), the main tumor regressed a mean 34% in thickness and 24% in basal diameter. The indication for enucleation was retinoblastoma recurrence as subretinal and/or vitreous seeds in 7 eyes and extensive vitreous hemorrhage in 3 with uncertainty about viable-appearing tumor. In no case was enucleation performed for recurrence of the main tumor. In all eyes, there was histopathologic evidence of tumor regression. In 8 of 10 eyes, histopathologic examination disclosed tumor regression without viable-appearing retinoblastoma in the main tumor. Of these 8 eyes, 2 showed a completely calcified glial scar and 6 showed an apical calcified glial scar and a basal residual well-differentiated component with retinomalike and/or retinocytomalike features. In the remaining 2 eyes, an area of posttherapeutic regression was present but contained foci of mitotically active, viable-appearing malignant retinoblastoma cells. The 6 eyes found to contain well-differentiated component with retinomalike and/or retinocytomalike features showed a mean decrease of 17% in largest basal dimension and 32% in thickness after a mean of 3 cycles of chemoreduction. In contrast, the 4 eyes that did not contain well-differentiated component with retinomalike and/or retinocytomalike features showed a mean decrease of 35% in largest basal dimension and 55% in thickness after a mean of 5 cycles of chemoreduction. Of those 7 eyes enucleated for recurrent subretinal and/or vitreous seeds, viable tumor seeds were confirmed histopathologically in all cases. There was no histopathologic evidence of chemotherapeutic toxicity to the eye. CONCLUSIONS: Histopathologic examination of 10 enucleated eyes following chemoreduction alone revealed that the main retinoblastoma regressed in all eyes. Additionally 6 eyes showed basal residual well-differentiated component with retinomalike and/or retinocytomalike features, and these eyes also displayed less shrinkage with chemoreduction. Despite the lack of viable-appearing retinoblastoma within the main tumor, enucleation was performed for viable subretinal and/or vitreous seeds in 7 cases and confirmed histopathologically.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed2003

The histopathologic effects of transpupillary thermotherapy in human eyes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the histopathologic effects of transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) on the normal human retina. DESIGN: Prospective, noncomparative small case series. PARTICIPANTS: Three patients with eyes scheduled for enucleation because of the presence of a malignant intraocular tumor. INTERVENTION: Application of TTT to the posterior pole by using an 810-nm laser and the following laser parameters: 2-mm spot size, 60-second duration, and power settings of 430, 530, and 630 mW (low, medium, and high doses, respectively). Two or three TTT treatments at varying dose levels were performed in each eye. The eyes were then enucleated within 7 days of TTT, and light microscopy of serial sections was performed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Light microscopic histopathologic changes of the neurosensory retina, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and choroid in the areas of treatment compared with adjacent normal (control) tissue. Visual acuity, fundus appearance by slit-lamp biomicroscopy, and symptoms of pain, burning, or visual change were recorded before and after each TTT application. The degree of fundus pigmentation was also noted. RESULTS: Eight treatment spots from three eyes were analyzed. The first eye was judged to have a lightly pigmented fundus, and no histopathologic alterations were seen on light microscopy at any of the three dose levels. The second eye had a more pigmented fundus. This eye had minimal outer retinal changes in the area corresponding to the low-dose treatment, more prominent changes in the outer and middle layers in the medium-dose treatment area, and full-thickness retinal alterations, along with changes in the RPE and choroid, where the high dose was applied. The third eye was found to have an unexpected extension of pigmented choroidal melanoma under the fovea, and full-thickness retinal changes were observed in this area after a medium-dose application. No histopathologic changes were seen at the low dose in this eye. CONCLUSIONS: TTT applications resulted in a spectrum of histopathologic effects of the retina that are related to both energy level and fundus pigmentation. Mild or no changes were observed in most low- or medium-dose applications. More extensive retinal damage occurred with applications that used energy levels higher than what have been used in the clinical setting or when the fundus was more heavily pigmented.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Unoperated eyes with persistent fetal vasculature.

PURPOSE: To present a follow-up on children with persistent fetal vasculature (PFV) when surgery was not performed. METHODS: From January 1992 through June 2001, 31 infants (31 eyes) with PFV were evaluated to document the number of eyes operated on versus eyes not operated on to determine whether the latter group remained stationary or became worse. RESULTS: Seventeen of the 31 eyes underwent surgery. Of the 14 eyes not undergoing surgery, 7 were judged to be inoperable. The remaining 7 eyes were not operated on because the fundus could be visualized through an undilated pupil. Follow-up on 5 of the 7 eyes ranged from 18 months to 9.5 years. None showed progression of the lens opacity or development of retinal detachment. The eyes were amblyopic but functional. CONCLUSIONS: In this limited series of eyes with PFV where the plaque was not large enough to fill the pupil, the eyes followed up were amblyopic, but useful vision was retained and the lens opacity did not enlarge.

Amblyopia↗