Schwannoma of the eyelid: report of two cases.

Schwannomas are rare benign neurogenic tumors that show differentiation of Schwann cells that form the neural sheath. Only five reports of eyelid schwannomas in adults have been found in the English literature. We report the unusual cases of two females, aged 41 and 70 years, who developed eyelid schwannomas. Neither tumor was diagnosed clinically; both were erroneously considered as epidermal inclusion cysts. The masses were surgically removed by excisional biopsy. The histopathological examination showed encapsulated tumors composed of interlacing bundles of spindle cells with slightly wavy nuclei. Immunocytochemistry for S-100 protein was strongly positive. The diagnosis of schwannoma was made. After 12 and 2 years of follow-up, no recurrences have been observed. This entity should be included in the differential diagnosis of eyelid tumors.