CONJUNCTIVAL DERMOID CYST SEEN ON EXAMINATION AS A CHRONICALLY RED EYE

We describe a patient who was seen with a unilateral red eye and purul ent discharge refractory to antibiotic treatment with multiple antibio tic regimens over the previous 4 months. Initially it was believed to be a bacterial conjunctivitis, but when conventional treatments failed it was thought to be a viral conjunctivitis with bacterial superinfec tion. Cultures yielded only Enterococcus. There was a small mass with a draining fistulous tract at the lateral canthus. Symptoms persisted despite courses of topical and systemic antibiotics followed by a tape ring dose of steroids. The patient was taken to the operating room for an orbitotomy through the conjunctiva at the lateral canthus. Finding s from pathologic examination of the excised mass demonstrated a dermo id cyst of the conjunctiva. This clinical appearance obscured the diag nosis.