Acquired cystic lesions in the eyelid can arise from a number of structures including the sweat glands (apocrine and eccrine hidrocystoma), from the pilosebaceous follicles (milia, trichilemmal cysts), from the epidermis (epidermal inclusion cysts), or from the meibomian glands (chalazia).1 Intratarsal keratinous cysts are a recently described entity that also arise from the meibomian glands and clinically may look exactly like chalazia.2–8 Their treatment, however, is different, and it is therefore important for the ophthalmologist to be aware of this entity.
Acquired cystic lesions in the eyelid can arise from a number of structures including the sweat glands (apocrine and eccrine hidrocystoma), from the pilosebaceous follicles (milia, trichilemmal cysts), from the epidermis (epidermal inclusion cysts), or from the meibomian glands (chalazia).1 Intratarsal keratinous cysts are a recently described entity that also arise from the meibomian glands and clinically may look exactly like chalazia.2–8 Their treatment, however, is different, and it is therefore important for the ophthalmologist to be aware of this entity.