Prolapsed orbital fat: 15 consecutive cases

Abstract

Prolapsed orbital fat has rarely been described and is often confused with other conjunctival tumours, such as dermolipoma. We describe the clinical features and treatment of 15 patients with prolapsed orbital fat. We report here our experience in 15 consecutive patients who presented to the Vision Institute of Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil, between July 2004 and December 2007. Age, sex, presenting complaint, physical findings, associated local and systemic diseases, type of treatment, and complications were recorded. Ten patients were men, and ages ranged from 44-86 (mean 68). Eleven patients presented with unilateral disease. Thirteen had superotemporal prolapse, and two atypical superonasal prolapse. Two gave a history of trauma. All patients had the prolapsed fat excised for cosmetic reasons. There were no complications. Orbital fat prolapse is usually superotemporal, mainly in men, and is easily differentiated from other lesions, such as prolapsed lacrimal gland. Excision is always indicated, usually for cosmetic reasons.

Differences in patient characteristics between subconjunctival herniated orbital fat in the superotemporal quadrant and the other quadrants: An observational study

“…According to previous studies, the mean age of such patients ranges from 64 years old to 72 years old. [2–4,6,7,9,11,12] The mean age of our patients with SHOF in the superotemporal quadrant was found to be similar (70.3 years). In contrast, the mean age of 15 cases with SHOF in the other quadrants was 56.1 years, and 5 patients (33.3%) were 50 years old or younger (range, 28–46 years).…”

“…[1] In contrast, none of the previous reports mentioned characteristics of patients with SHOF in the other quadrants. However, according to previous reports, [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] SHOF in other quadrants seems to occur unilaterally even in young, non-obese women. We supposed that patient characteristics are different between patients with SHOF in the superotemporal quadrant as opposed to those cases found in the other quadrants.…”

“…Previous reports presented SHOF in the superonasal quadrant in 12 cases, [2][3][4][5][6][7] in the inferonasal quadrant in 4 cases, [2,[8][9][10] in the inferotemporal quadrant in 1 case, [2] in the nasal area in 1 case, [9] and in the inferior conjunctival fornix in 1 case. [3] Patient data and clinical description were presented in 15 of these 19 cases.…”

“…[3] Patient data and clinical description were presented in 15 of these 19 cases. [2,3,[6][7][8]10] Data on BMI were shown only in 1 Japanese patient. [10] One reported case aged 3.5 years was excluded from this study because this patient had a history of periocular trauma before the development of SHOF.…”

Long-Term Outcomes of a Surgical Technique in Management of Subconjunctival Orbital Fat Prolapse

“…Subconjunctival orbital fat prolapse is a rare benign condition characterized by a yellowish mobile mass just below the bulbar conjunctiva, typically in the superotemporal quadrant. Patients are mostly male [1-4]. Recently, several surgical techniques for this disorder have been described, some of which are advocated as being minimally invasive [5-9].…”