Pseudotumors of the orbit and their relationship to granulomatous inflammation

Postoperative material of 225 orbitotomies studied in Helmholtz Research Institute of Eye Diseases for 5 years with the pathohistological diagnosis of chronic inflammation of the orbit tissues was analysed. Granulomatous inflammation was found in 28% of cases and its detailed description in 63 cases is given. Sarcoidosis, Wegener's granulomatosis and other forms of allergic vasculitis and idiopathic forms of "mixed" granulomas are observed around foreign bodies apart from ordinary granulomas. Granulomatous inflammation as a primary manifestation in the orbit of such systemic conditions as Wegener's granulomatosis and sarcoidosis was observed in some cases.