Article Text
Abstract
A woman in her 80s was referred to us as an emergency for repair of a traumatic laceration. She had a history of hypertension and dementia and lived alone; she had an increasing frequency of falls recently and presented to her local hospital following another fall. The medical team noted a left medial canthus defect with bleeding and unopposed edges. This was suspected to have been secondary to her fall. She was referred to us for emergency repair of the supposed laceration. Ophthalmic review revealed a large ulcerated lesion at the left medial canthus with indurated edges and oozing of blood. Rather than a traumatic aetiology, clinically it appeared more like basal cell carcinoma (BCC), so, instead of repair, punch biopsies were taken: histology later confirmed BCC. This highlights the variable clinical presentation of BCC and the importance of keeping a high index of suspicion for all periocular lesions.
- Ophthalmology
- Skin cancer
- Head and neck cancer
- Trauma
- Emergency medicine
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Footnotes
Contributors SA: Involved in care of the patient and subsequent write up. DS: Involved in care of the patient and subsequent write up. YG: Consultant responsible and involved in care of the patient, subsequent write up and overlooking the whole case.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.