Orbito-Ocular Malignant Tumours in Zaria, Nigeria: A 10-Year Review

Background: Malignant orbito-ocular tumours are common, frequently affect the young and cause morbidity and mortality. There was no prior published report from our centre. Method: This study was a ten-year retrospective histopathological analysis of orbito-ocular malignant tumours seen at the Department of Pathology of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria (January 1993 to December 2002). Histopathology diagnosis of specimens of the eye and adnexae were retrieved from the laboratory bench books and relevant information on the age of the patient and histopathologic type were analysed. Results: A total of 124 orbito-ocular malignant tumours were recorded. There were 2480 malignant tumours and these constitute 5% of all malignant lesions seen. The most frequent histological types encountered were retinoblastoma (40.3%), squamous cell carcinoma (33.1%) and Burkitt’s lymphoma (9.6%). There was equal sex distribution and infants were affected in 49.2% of cases with a mean age of 4.5 years. The most common sites in 82 cases were intraocular (54.8%), the orbit (23.2%) and conjunctiva in 17.1% of cases. Conclusion: Malignant orbito-ocular tumours are not uncommon in this environment and frequently affect infants; therefore appropriate medical facilities should be put in place to aid in diagnosis and management of these lesions.