ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Eyelid malignancies are completely treatable if detected early. The treatment depends on the invasiveness of the cancer which in turn depends on the type of malignancy. AIM: The aim of the study was to characterize the distribution of the types of eyelid malignancies in central India. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study was conducted in the Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery at a tertiary care hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report a series of 27 cases of eyelid malignancies. In the same case series, we also include a case of malignant hemangiopericytoma which is an extremely rare form of eyelid malignancy worldwide. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Depending on the underlying statistical distribution, either analysis of variance (ANOVA) or the Kruskal-Wallis (K-W) test was used to assess the differential distribution of these variables across the types of eyelid malignancies observed in this study. RESULTS: We observed that sebaceous cell carcinoma (approximately 37%) was almost as prevalent as basal cell carcinoma (approximately 44%) in the study subjects and had an earlier age of occurrence and a more rapid clinical course. CONCLUSIONS: Sebaceous cell carcinoma of the eyelid is almost as common as basal cell carcinoma in a large tertiary care centre in central India.