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| ARTICLE |
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| Year : 1967 | Volume
: 15
| Issue : 1 | Page : 38-39 |
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Solitary plasmocytoma of conjunctiva
S Bhargava, MC Gupta, K Vyas, BP Saxena
Department of Pathology, G. R. Medical College, Gwalior, India
| Date of Web Publication | 18-Jan-2008 |
Correspondence Address:
S Bhargava
Department of Pathology, G. R. Medical College, Gwalior
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
How to cite this article:
Bhargava S, Gupta M C, Vyas K, Saxena B P. Solitary plasmocytoma of conjunctiva. Indian J Ophthalmol 1967;15:38-9 |
Extramedullary plasma cell tumours are rare and those involving the conjunctivae still so. Pascheff (1908) first described plasma cell tumour of conjunctivx under the heading of `Plasmoma' of conjunctiva. Since then to the best of our knowledge only 50 cases of plasmocytoma of the conjunctiva have been reported in world literature. Hellwig (1943) reviewed 29 of them.
The following case report of a case of plasmocytoma of the conjunctiva who came under our observation is being presented for its rarity and a reminder that though rare, the conjunctival plasmocytoma is not an extinct entity.
| Case History | |  |
M.D., female aged 30 years came to the outpatients department with the complaints of foreign body sensation and redness of right eye. The duration of symptoms was one year. On examination there was a greyish white nodule about 2 mm. in diameter on the upper palpebral conjunctiva nearer to the medial canthus of the eye. The growth was sessile and its surface smooth. There was no infiltration into the surrounding tissues and the growth could be excised completely without much difficulty. The clinical diagnosis was "Papilloma". Unfortunately the growth was excised in the operation theatre of minor surgery in O.P.D. and no laboratory investigations were done on the patient prior to excision. Eventually, despite best efforts to contact the patient for a detailed pathological and radiological examination the patient could not be brought for these investigations,
Histopathological examination of the tumour tissue showed sheets of plasma cells with hardly any stroma in between them. The cells were round or oval, with eccentric nucleus. The chromatin of the nucleus was arranged in typical cartwheel manner. There were no giant cells.
| Comments | | |
The following views are put forward regarding the nature of plasmocytoma of conjunctivae.
(1) Hyaline degeneration of the stroma of many conjunctival plasma cell tumours, with the formation of true amyloid in a few cases has led to the impression that amyloid and hyaline tumours of conjunctiva are possibly terminal stages of plasmoma.
Pascheff (1908) commented on the similarity between plasmoma and amyloid tumour of eye. Deutschmann (1912) included plasmoma in well known entities of hyaline and amyloid degeneration of conjunctiva. Baurmann (1922) held that plasmoma may lead to hyaline and amyloid degeneration of conjunctiva but it is not the only disease which precedes it.
(2) Same observers assume an aetiological relationship between plasmoma and trachoma. While culture and inoculation methods with use of fragments from plasma cell tumours have been most unsuccessful (Pascheff, 1939, James, 1929), it is a fact that in a large number of cases plasmoma is complicated or preceded by trachoma. Most cases of plasmoma have been reported from countries where trachoma is endemic.
Botteri and Spanie inoculated pieces of plasmoma into conjunctiva of baboon and produced trachoma. According to Kreibig (1933), in only 5 cases of the published 15 cases of plasmoma, can trachoma be definitely excluded as an aetiological factor. On the other hand, Howard and Saundokoff were unable to prove any aetiological relationship between trachoma and plasmoma and they mentioned that the association is coincidental. However, the present knowledge is insufficient to answer the aetiological relationship between the two.
| Review of Clinical Features | | |
1. Age and sex of the patient: Hellwig (1943) in his review article has commented on the relatively high incidence of these lesions in females and the occurrence at an early age, as contrast to plasma cell tumours of air passages. He reports the mean age as 37.7 years.
Hellwig's statement regarding age and sex of the patient is quite in favour of our findings.
2. Absence of invasion: Hellwig has further commented that there was no report of invasion of eye itself or of orbital bones in the cases that lie reviewed. This was again confirmed in our case.
3. The microscopic appearance of our tumour resembles the description of similar tumours given by Hellwig.
4. The authors are at a loss to review critically Hellwig's statement that "as to the clinical course, there is general agreement that conjunctival plasma cell tumours are non-cancerous, with very indistinct neoplastic properties. The general condition was never affected and laboratory tests were entirely negative. Excision was the treatment of choice and was often successful", because the case could not be adequately followed up.[9]
| References | | |
| 1. | Baurmann. H.: (1932). Arch. f. Ophth. 109: 236.  |
| 2. | Botteri and Spanie: Quoted by Hellwig. 1943. |
| 3. | Deutschmann, F.: Quoted by Hellwig, 1943. |
| 4. | Hellwig. C. A,: (1943). Arch. Path. 36: 96. |
| 5. | Howard and Saundokoff: Quoted by Hellwig, 1943. |
| 6. | Kreibig. W.: (1933), Arch. f. Ophth. 131: 89. |
| 7. | Pascheff, C.: (1908). Arch, f. Ophth. 68: 114. 1908. |
| 8. | Pascheff, C., & James, W. H.: Quoted by Hellwig, 1943. |
| 9. | Willis. R. A.: Pathology of Tumours, 3rd edition. 1960. |
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