ABSTRACT
Although clinical acumen is very valuable in the diagnosis of eyelid tumors, a biopsy is necessary for confirmation. For small tumors that appear to be benign, an excisional biopsy can be performed. A preoperative photograph should be taken. If the diagnosis turns out to be malignant and the pathology report shows that the tumor has not been completely excised, then further excision and possible reconstruction will be necessary. If there has been a time lapse of several weeks from the time of the initial biopsy to the time of the second surgical procedure, the area of the original biopsy might have healed to a significant degree making it difficult to decide where to do the further surgical excision. The preoperative photo will be most helpful in these cases.
