Steatocystoma simplex of the caruncle
- 1The Eyelid, Lacrimal and Orbital Clinic, Division of Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Herston Road, Herston, Brisbane, Qld, 4029, Australia
- 2Sullivan Nicolaides and Partners, 134 Whitmore Street, Taringa, Qld, 4068, Australia
- Correspondence to: Dr T Sullivan; tjs{at}gil.com.au
- Accepted 24 June 2002
The caruncle has a non-keratinised epithelial lining similar to the conjunctival epithelium. However, unlike the conjunctiva, the caruncle harbours skin elements such as hair follicles, sebaceous glands, sweat glands, and accessory lacrimal tissue. Consequently, the caruncle may develop a tumour or cyst similar to one found in the skin, conjunctiva, or lacrimal gland.
Case Report
A 26 year old woman presented with a 2 mm, asymptomatic, pale yellow lesion of the right caruncle, present for 8 months (Fig 1). It was excised intact under local anaesthetic and histological examination revealed a cyst lined by stratified squamous epithelium and containing sebaceous glands in its wall (Fig 2). These communicated directly with the cyst lumen. No associated hair follicles were seen. An eosinophilic, crenulated cuticle was present on the inner aspect of the cyst wall in …
