A pink swelling on the eyebrow

Abstract

A child presented with this firm, immobile, and painless lump over the right eyebrow (fig 1). The lump was not warm to touch. It had developed gradually following an injury to the area three months previously and had persisted despite topical antibiotics. Excisional biopsy and immunohistochemical staining revealed B-lymphoblastic lymphoma. Lymphoblastic lymphoma is a highly aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma which most commonly affects children.1 Skin involvement in lymphoblastic lymphoma is seen in fewer than 2% of cases, and usually presents as a large solitary tumour in the head and neck region.1 Cutaneous manifestations may grow rapidly and have accompanying systemic symptoms such as fever, weight loss, and night sweats,2 although this child did not experience any of these.