Pseudoglandular Hyperplasia of the Conjunctiva: The First Case Report in South Korea

Purpose: To report the first domestic case of pseudoglandular hyperplasia of the conjunctiva. Case Summary: A 17-year-old male patient presented to our clinic with a conjunctival mass in his right eye. At age 12, he had experienced sand entering his right eye; since then, the temporal region of the conjunctiva in that eye had become reddish. Slit-lamp examination revealed a salmon-colored patch with ill-defined margins and several feeding vessels on the conjunctiva The mass was excised; histologic examination revealed round and tubular glands within the lamina propria. There was no evidence of nuclear dysplasia but surrounding lymphoid aggregates and eosinophils indicated chronic inflammation. Two months after the excision, there was no recurrence and the conjunctiva remained stable. Conclusions: Pseudoglandular hyperplasia is a benign proliferation of normal adenomatous tissue that can occur throughout the human body. It requires careful diagnosis because of its resemblance to invasive adenocarcinoma. This report is the first documented case of pseudoglandular hyperplasia in the conjunctiva in South Korea. Histological analyses showed that glands lined with squamous epithelium containing multiple goblet cells were present in the lamina propria. The absence of nuclear dysplasia confirmed the benign nature of the lesion enabling accurate prognostic prediction and informed decisions regarding the need for further radical excision.