Misdiagnosis of an organizing orbital hematoma – A confusing entity

Abstract

We present a case of an intra-orbital, subperiosteal organizing hematoma (pseudocyst) which was referred to our clinic with a misdiagnosis of an orbital epidermoid cyst. This confounding lesion caused a great deal of debate following a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. It was only after surgery and investigating that the patient remembered an incident with orbital trauma nearly 2-years prior. We used existing literature to hypothesise that this lesion has a spectrum of presentations readily reported, but poorly presented. Histo-pathologically it seems feasible that this lesion progresses from an acute intra-orbital subperiosteal haemorrhage, to an organizing hematoma with associated scar tissue (pseudocyst) which would eventually develop into a chronic hematic (blood) cyst.

Keywords

• Hematoma
• Hematic
• Haemorrhage
• Orbital
• Epidermoid
• Cyst