Background/methods: Glomus cell tumor, a vascular neoplasm, has been rarely reported to occur in the eyelid. The authors examined the clinicopathologic features of two patients with glomus cell tumor of the eyelid.
Results: The tumors occurred as enlarging violaceous to bluish masses. One patient had a solitary eyelid tumor that contained sheets of individual glomus cells. The other patient had eyelid and wrist tumors and multiple family members with similar lesions.
Conclusion: This report provides clinicopathologic evidence that glomus cell tumor can occur in the eyelid in two different settings; in one setting, the tumor is solitary and sporadic, and in the second setting, it is multiple and familial.