Intraosseous solitary myofibroma of the orbit in an adolescent woman

Abstract

A 16-year-old woman presented with a painless, progressive, hard swelling in the left inferolateral orbital wall for the past 1 year. There was no diminution of vision or limitation of ocular motility. Imaging revealed an intraosseous, well-defined, expansile, soft tissue lesion in the inferolateral wall of the left orbit. A left anterior orbitotomy with complete surgical excision was performed. Histopathological evaluation of the specimen revealed fascicular pattern of spindle cells with a rich network of slit-like, branching blood vessels. Tumour cells exhibited smooth muscle actin and vimentin positivity but were negative for CD-34 and STAT-6. In absence of any systemic manifestation, a diagnosis of intraosseous solitary orbital myofibroma was made. The case highlights the importance of integrating clinical, radiological and histopathological features in overcoming the diagnostic challenge of differentiating myofibroma from other mesenchymal neoplasms. It also brings forth the importance of complete resection and curettage to prevent recurrence.