Recurrence rate of pleomorphic adenoma of the lacrimal gland: systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

Purpose

The aim is to increase the understanding of lacrimal gland pleomorphic adenoma’s recurrence rate and the factors that influence it.

Methods

A systematic search of PubMed, SCOPUS, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. The data in the included studies were extracted and analyzed.

Results

Twenty-two studies were included representing 963 patients from 12 different countries. The pooled analysis of the recurrence rate was 8.83% (95% CI: 5.08–13.50). In the event of recurrence, there was a 75.17% (95% CI: 65.98–82.94) chance of benign recurrence and a 28.35% (95% CI: 19.66–38.41) chance of malignant recurrences, with malignant recurrence occurring almost exclusively after a benign recurrence. The results showed that 47.09% (95% CI: 24.60 to 70.22) of recurrent tumors had a ruptured pseudocapsule and 6.35% (95% CI: 0.82 to 16.54) had an intact pseudocapsule with a significant difference between the two. Of the recurrent tumors, 51.50% (95% CI: 9.28 to 92.39) were biopsied compared to 8.83% (95% CI: 3.40 to 16.49) of the total; the difference between these two proportions was also found to be significant.

Conclusion

There was a statistically significant difference in the rates of recurrence between tumors that were either biopsied or had a ruptured pseudocapsule compared to those that did not. This evidence adds additional support for excisional biopsy being the procedure of choice for LGPA and reinforces the importance of keeping the pseudocapsule intact during surgical resection.

KEYWORDS:

• Lacrimal gland
• pleomorphic adenoma
• recurrence
• benign mixed

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Disclaimer

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Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.