A retrospective study of ocular neoplasms in Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

Ocular neoplasm is one of the least investigated ocular disorders in Nigeria. Although relatively rare, they play a role in causing blindness and even death in adults and children. In this study, the records of all patients/seen at the eye clinic and specimen received at the histopathology department of the University of Benin, Benin City, with ocular neoplasm between January 1998 and October 2002 were analyzed. Sixty-one ocular neoplasms grouped into fifteen different types were seen. Of these, 54.8% were in adults, 15 years and above while 45.2% were in children. Retinoblastoma was the most frequently occurring neoplasm i.e. 32.79% of the total population. It is also the most frequently occurring tumor in the pediatric group, while inflammatory tumors were the most in adults. On the whole 26 (42.62%) were malignant while only 35 (57.37%) were benign. Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the manifestation of ocular neoplasms in relation to age and sex.


The frequency of retinoblastoma was higher than previously reported while the frequency of choroidal malanoma was less than that seen in Literature. This may necessitate the need for further studies on retinoblastomas in Nigeria.


KEY WORDS: Ocular Neoplasms, Malignant tumors, age, sex.


Global Jnl Medical Sciences Vol.2(2) 2003: 115-119