Unusual presentations of pleomorphic adenoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland.

PURPOSE: To report two atypical cases of pleomorphic adenoma and adenoid cystic tumours of the lacrimal gland. METHODS: Two case reports are presented. The first is of a 65-year-old female with a long history of right hypoglobus with sudden recent worsening. Computed tomography (CT) showed a round, well-defined lesion in the fossa for the lacrimal gland with an anterior hypodense extension suggestive of possible malignancy in a pleomorphic adenoma. The tumour in the second case, a 35-year-old male, was diagnosed after presentation following a relatively minor periorbital injury. The smooth rounded mass on CT scan was suggestive of a benign lacrimal gland tumour. RESULTS: The lesion in case 1 was excised with a diagnosis of haemorrhage within a pleomorphic adenoma. The lesion in case 2 was excised with a diagnosis of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland with pseudocapsule. CONCLUSIONS: Haemorrhagic cyst developing beneath the pseudocapsule of a pleomorphic adenoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of secondary development of malignancy in a pleomorphic adenoma. Adenoid cystic tumours of the lacrimal gland can present with a pseudocapsule.