Improvement of surgical treatment efficiency for malignant eyelid tumors of epithelial origin using autofluorescence imaging

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the possibility of autofluorescence diagnostics (AFD)to determine the tumor boundaries and volume of surgery in patients with eyelid tumors of epithelial origin. Material and Methods. The study consisted of 3 parts: analysis of incidence of of eyelid basal cell carcinoma (BCC) recurrence; analysis of medical records of patients who underwent AFD at the primary visit for differential diagnostics between malignant and benign tumors; assessment of accuracy of determining tumor boundaries using visual diagnostics and AFD, based on the study of morphological sections of tumor fragments obtained after eyelid resection. Results. With 1.5 year follow-up period after surgical removal of BCC with visual diagnostics of its borders, the recurrence of the disease was verified in 18% patients. The use of AFD for differential diagnostics between malignant and benign tumors of eyelids skin and periorbital area showed that the method is effective for initial diagnosis of epithelial tumors in the outpatient unit. The AFD of the BCC boundaries compared with visual diagnostics is more accurate, it does not require long time and does not cause complications. Conclusion. The AFD can be used in ophthalmic oncology for early examination of the eyelid skin and periorbital area, it determines the boundaries of common pathological process more accurately, which guarantees complete removal of tumor and reduces the risk of its recurrence.