Background: Conjunctival myxoma is a type of rare, benign tumor of mesenchymal cells, with fewer than 30 reported cases in the English literature. It is mostly an isolated occurrence but can sometimes be associated with systemic diseases such as Carney complex or Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. It is necessary in clinical practice to differentiate it from other similar lesions, such as amelanotic nevus, lymphangioma, myxoid liposarcoma, spindle-cell lipoma, myxoid neurofibroma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. Case Presentation: The usual presentation of conjunctival myxoma is a translucent, well-circumscribed, and painless conjunctival mass, but in this report we discuss an unusual case of conjunctival myxoma in a 47-year-old Taiwanese woman who presented initially with pain and redness. This atypical presentation complicated the diagnosis and the management at first. Surgical excision of the mass was performed. The mass was found to be a conjunctival myxoma. The patient subsequently underwent extensive evaluation but was found not to have any systemic diseases with known association with conjunctival myxoma. Conclusions: In summary, we present a case of conjunctival myxoma in a 47-year-old Taiwanese woman. The initial presentation with pain and redness was atypical for conjunctival myxoma. The lesion was successfully managed with complete excisional biopsy.

Aqueous humor from human glaucomatous eyes was divided into two groups. Group I aqueous humor contains a negligible amount of ascorbate, while group II contains ascorbate. Group I aqueous humor stimulates ascorbate oxidation. This oxidative effect is inhibited by the addition of EDTA, indicating the presence of metallic ions. The amount of copper determined by atomic spectrophotometry in these samples was 1.54 micrograms/ml. On the contrary, group II aqueous humor protects against ascorbate oxidation. The small amount of albumin present in these samples accounts for part of this protective effect.

Stable cultures of mononuclear phagocytes from carrageenan-induced granulomas in mice have been established after enzymatic dispersion of these lesions. The cells can be maintained for up to 3 wk without division in serum-free media. The mononuclear phagocytes were identified by several criteria. The cells are adherent, phagocytic, contain lysosomal acid hydrolases at high specific activities, secrete lysozyme, and bind soluble aggregates of IgG. The activities of 5'-nucleotidase and leucine aminopeptidase in the cultured granuloma cells showed that they resembled macrophages from thioglycollate-stimulated mice but not unstimulated macrophages in these respects. Supernates from the cultured granuloma cells contain factor(s) which induce the proliferation of thymocytes; the release of such factors by the cells is stimulated by lipopolysaccharide.

No abstract