Pyoderma gangrenosum involving the eyelid

D. J. Browning, A. D. Proia and F. P. Sanfilippo

A 62-year-old man was seen with an ulcer of the left upper eyelid of two weeks' duration. Over the previous 40 years, similar ulcers had intermittently developed elsewhere on his skin and spontaneously resolved over several months leaving atrophic scars. A biopsy specimen of the eyelid lesion showed epidermal ulceration with acute inflammation and liquefactive necrosis of the underlying dermis. Microorganisms and vasculitis were not present. On the basis of the clinical history and a compatible biopsy specimen, the diagnosis of pyoderma gangrenosum was made. This is an uncommon, idiopathic, ulcerating skin disease that may also have ocular manifestations. Eyelid ulcers have not previously been reported, to our knowledge. The diagnosis is established by clinical history and exclusion of other causes of ulceration.