Conjunctival Tumors: Benign Epithelial Tumors

Benign tumors of the conjunctiva are much more common than malignant tumors of the conjunctiva. This chapter describes benign tumors of epithelial origin, which comprise the majority of the conjunctival tumors. The most common benign epithelial lesions of the conjunctiva are the squamous papillomas, many of them mainly in children, and associated with human papilloma virus infection. Other much less frequent lesions of the conjunctiva are inverted papilloma, seborrheic keratosis, keratoacanthoma, oncocytoma, and actinic keratosis. Most benign conjunctival lesions can be treated by surgical excision alone, although various alternative and adjuvant methods have been used extensively.