A 45-year-old man presented with a progressively enlarging left lower lateral eyelid lesion. The initial biopsy was inconclusive; however, a repeat biopsy 5 years later revealed infiltrative morpheaform basal cell carcinoma with sclerosis. Two years later, the patient presented with ophthalmoplegia of the left eye. Computed tomography illustrated a heterogeneous enhancing soft tissue mass in the inferolateral orbit with erosion into the globe. Despite treatment with vismodegib for 1 year, the lesion progressed to involve the entire left lower eyelid and corneal-scleral junction with adjacent maxillary sinus invasion. The patient tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus and underwent a left orbital exenteration followed by adjuvant radiotherapy. The patient remained stable with no evidence of recurrent disease or distant metastasis 2 years after exenteration. This rare case highlights a neglected basal cell carcinoma in those immunocompromised with histopathological correlation of the aggressive disease on to the globe.
Keywords: Basal cell carcinoma; basal cell carcinoma of the eyelid; human immunodeficiency virus; orbital malignancy; vismodegib.