Ocular tumors in Africa

This paper is an analysis of 470 cases of oculo-orbital tumors in Kenya. The present series is compared with the major works conducted in other African and Western countries. We refer to age, sex and geographic characteristics and prevalence of tumors in different populations and stress the differences found. The major emphasis is on retinoblastoma, Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Orbital Hydatidosis is included as a differential diagnosis of unilateral propotosis. Considering all the reviews, retinoblastoma is reported in high numbers in African countries whereas uveal melanoma is extremely rare. Among the tumors of the lids and conjunctiva, squamous cell carcinoma occurs more frequently than in Caucasians. Besides retinoblastoma infiltrating the orbit, Burkitt's lymphoma is the most common orbital tumor. nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Kenya has the third highest incidence in the world. Proptosis is the hallmark of orbital disease and is the commonest manifestation sign at first attendance, a fact which validates the late presentation of most of our patients. The difficulties encountered in early diagnosis and hence the appropriate management are discussed and in concluding remarks some recommendation are made.