title: [Investigation of clinical characteristics and surgical treatment for conjunctival epithelial inclusion cyst].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the clinical characteristics and surgical treatment in eyes with conjunctival epithelial inclusion cysts (CEIC).
  
  
  METHODS
  This study involved the retrospective, medical-record-based investigation of 37 eyes of 34 patients diagnosed with CEIC by slit-lamp biomicroscopy and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  CEIC were found most commonly in the nasal area of the conjunctiva (64.9%). Thirteen eyes (35.1%) had more than 1 cyst, and 10 eyes (27.0%) had a past history of punctures. Adhesion (9 eyes) between cyst and surrounding connective tissues was found to be significantly more in eyes with a puncture history (5 eyes; p = 0.0234, Fisher's exact test). Complete excision of cysts through a small conjunctival incision could be performed significantly more often among the 28 eyes without adhesion than in the 9 eyes with adhesion (p = 0.002). Pathological examination of the cysts indicated that they involved goblet cells in 16 eyes and mild inflammation in 4 eyes, consistent with the findings in previous reports.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CEIC are predominantly found in the nasal area of the conjunctiva. In eyes without puncture history, adhesion of cysts to the surrounding tissues was rarely observed and cysts were successfully excised "en bloc" via minimally invasive surgery.
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Norihiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yokoi
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Terao
authors.forename: Kazuichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003229:Conjunctival Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003560:Cysts / Q000601:surgery; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000473:pathology; D005134:Eye Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome