Faculty Bibliography

Pigmented lesions of the conjunctiva are not rare. They may be acquired, congenital, benign or malignant. In the present paper, the author provides a brief review, in a non-exhaustive manner, of the common melanocytic pigmentations, with more emphasis on the malignant and pre-malignant variants

Two hundred fifty-seven patients with biopsy-proven dysplastic nevus syndrome (DNS) were evaluated ophthalmologically and compared with 264 non-DNS patients, who acted as a control population. A statistically significant increase in the percentage of the DNS patients versus controls harboring conjunctival nevi (8.56% vs. 1.14%), iris nevi (24.90% vs. 9.47%), and choroidal nevi (14.40% vs. 5.30%) was encountered. The number of iris nevi found per patient was also greater statistically for the DNS group. Also encountered in the DNS group was presence of multiple nevus types in the same patient (iris and choroidal, iris and conjunctival, conjunctival and choroidal); 3 patients had all three nevus types present, and 4 patients had two choroidal nevi per eye. No patient in the control group had more than one nevus type present per eye

The Hughes procedure of tarsoconjunctival flap sharing for lower eyelid reconstruction following removal of basal cell carcinoma is described. Although this technique has the disadvantage of being a 2-staged procedure that requires closure of the eyelid for 2-8 weeks, its cosmetic and functional results are outstanding. While the Hughes procedure is not the only technique for eyelid reconstruction, it is a time-tested method commonly practiced by ophthalmic plastic surgeons

Basal cell carcinomas of the eyelids, especially those in the medial canthal area, may cause extensive local destruction. Recurrent tumours are more aggressive and become progressively more difficult to treat; this is especially true for postirradiated recurrent, medial canthal, basal cell carcinomas. Tumours in this area should thus be treated by a technique which allows tissue sampling in order to gauge the adequacy of the treatment, with the goal being complete extirpation of the tumour. Excision monitored by frozen section control or Mohs' surgery is our recommendation based on a retrospective analyses of 631 eyelid basal cell carcinomas, half of which were primary tumours and half recurrent