Panorama of orbital space-occupying lesions. The 24-year experience of a referral centre

Purpose: The aim of this survey was to study the frequency and management o f orbital lesions requiring incisional or excisional biopsy for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Methods: A histopathological review of specimens from 300 consecutive patie nts with space-occupying orbital lesions managed over a period of 24 years at a tertiary referral centre, Results: The lesions could be attributed to 73 different entities with low- grade, non-Hodgkin lymphoma being the most common. More than half (54.3%) o f lesions were neoplastic and malignant disease was present in 29.0% of pat ients. The majority of lesions were biopsied using the anterior transseptal or transconjunctival approach. Conclusion: Most orbital space-occupying lesions requiring biopsy are benig n and easily accessible. However, the diversity of these rare lesions and c omplexity of management suggest that patient care is best provided by a tea m of experienced subspecialists at a designated orbital centre.