A 57-year-old man presented to the ophthalmology clinic with an 8-month history of a painless, red lesion on the bulbar conjunctiva of his right eye, which gradually increased in size. The patient’s lesion was excised. Histopathologic examination confirmed a squamous papilloma. One month after surgery, the lesion recurred in the same area with multiple lobules.
The patient had no history of infection, trauma, or travel. On slitlamp examination of the right eye, several raised, red, petal-like multilobulated growths can be seen on the conjunctival surface (Fig. 1). The rest of the examination was normal. A diagnosis of recurrent squamous papilloma was made.
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FIGURE 1: Examination shows several raised, red, petal-like, multilobulated growths on the surface of the bulbar conjunctiva.
The lesion was excised again, and mitomycin C (0.2 mg/mL) was applied on the wound for 3 minutes, then rinsed with around 100 mL of 0.5% saline. Gatifloxacin eye drops were used after the operation. Histopathologic examination again confirmed a squamous papilloma (Supplementary Digital Content, Fig. 1, https://links.lww.com/APJO/A158). The patient’s last visit was 2 months ago and there was no sign of recurrence.
Squamous cell papilloma is benign and is commonly located in the inferior fornix, such as in this case.1 The conjunctival papilloma can develop due to numerous factors. The human papilloma virus is one of the causes and is by direct contact.2 Cryotherapy is another useful treatment option but does not distinguish between benign and malignant papillomas.
REFERENCES
1. Phelps PO, Duong HVQ, Goel S, et al. Conjunctival papillomas. American Academy of Ophthalmology EyeWiki. Available at:
https://eyewiki.aao.org/Conjunctival_Papilloma. Assessed January 23, 2022.
2. Burton M, Sagoo M, Ohnuma S, et al. Pathophysiology of ocular surface squamous neoplasia. Exp Eye Res. 2014;129:172–182.
