The clinical characteristics and treatment results of ocular adnexal lymphoma.

Purpose: To assess the clinical pattern, the histopathological findings, the response to treatments, the recurrence pattern and the prognosis of malignant lymphoma in the ocular adnexa.

Methods: This study was performed on 22 total eyes from 17 patients who were diagnosed with ocular adnexal malignant lymphoma. We retrospectively analyzed the medical records for patient information including the histological classification based on age, the gender of each patient, the symptoms and signs at the initial diagnosis, the presence of binocular invasion, the findings of the surgical biopsy, the clinical stage of each patient's tumor, and the treatment methods used and their effectiveness. The mean follow-up period was 24.8 months.

Results: The mean age of patients studied was 46.8 years old. Six females and 11 males were included in the study. Fifteen cases consisting of 20 total eyes represented extranodal marginal zone B cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT). Five of seven patients (71.4%) whose lymphoma occurred within the conjunctiva relapsed after irradiation or chemotherapy, and four of the relapsed patients were salvaged with further therapy.

Conclusions: Extranodal marginal zone B cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) constituted 88.2% of all lymphomas involving the ocular adnexa. Lymphoma in the ocular adnexa responded well to conventional treatment, but the recurrence rate of lymphoma in the conjunctiva was significantly high.