Clinical, Radiological and Histopathological Features of Patients With Lacrimal Gland Enlargement

The purpose of this study was to describe the radiologic and histopathologic features of lacrimal gland in patients presenting with lacrimal gland enlargement. Methods: We retrospectively retrieved the data of patients with lacrimal gland enlargement in Farabi Eye Hospital between 2012 and 2017. These data included demographics, the patients’ facial photographs, orbital CT-scans, and histopathological findings of lacrimal gland biopsies. Results: Forty-seven patients (15 men and 32 women) were enrolled in this study with a median age of 37.9 years (range, 15–79 years). Histopathologic diagnoses were chronic dacryoadenitis in 26 cases (55.32%), IgG4-related disease in 6 patients (12.77%), two cases of acute dacryoadenitis, two cases of non-necrotizing granulomatous inflammation, two cases of Non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma, two cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma and two cases of mixed tumor (4.26% each), as well as one case of conjunctival epithelial cyst, and one case of benign lymphoid tissue and fibrofatty tissue (2.13%). In two samples (4.26%), biopsy revealed normal lacrimal glands. Interestingly, in two cases with relapsing lacrimal gland enlargement, different histopathologic diagnoses were found in biopsies taken from each lacrimal gland at different times. The average size of enlarged lacrimal glands was 19.67 mm × 7.06 mm on axial CT scan and 19.44 mm × 6.20 mm on coronal CT scan. Conclusion: Tissue biopsy is needed for diagnosis of lacrimal gland enlargement because it is difficult to distinguish the type of the lacrimal gland pathology based solely on clinical or radiological presentation.