Obstructive Eyelid Cyst

The painless lesion on this 66-year-old woman's upper eyelid had been enlarging for the past couple of months and was now obscuring her vision. Dr Leonid Skorin, Jr, of Dixon, Ill, diagnosed it as a cyst of Moll's gland, an apocrine sweat gland situated next to the eyelashes.

Cysts of Moll's gland, also known as sudoriferous cysts, are usually small but may attain a size of several centimeters. They occur as translucent or semitransparent round, skin-colored or bluish masses along the eyelid margin and contain a watery fluid.

Treatment consists of simple excision. Pathologic evaluation is recommended, because on rare occasions, these glands can give rise to adenocarcinomas with invasive potential.