A four-year-old boy had a big bump on his right eyebrow. It turned out to be a quail egg-sized tumor growing in his eye socket.

A four-year-old boy had a bulge on the right eyebrow. At first, his parents thought he had hit something, but after a while they found that the lump had not subsided but had grown larger. They went to the hospital for a check-up and found out that it was an orbital dermoid cyst.

Half a year ago, Ms. Liu's four-year-old son Dun Dun (pseudonym) had a swelling outside the right eyebrow. At first, it was only the size of a soybean, not red and painful. The family didn't take it seriously. Ms. Liu thought that her son had bumped into something and it became swollen. Unexpectedly, the swelling never went away, but grew slowly. Now it is as big as half a pigeon egg. Dun Dun's right big round eye was also pressed smaller, and the outer upper eyelid was also swollen, which was very ugly. Dun Dun felt uncomfortable looking at things and often rubbed his upper eyelid with his hands.

Ms. Liu took Dun Dun to several hospitals for examinations, and finally he was diagnosed with an orbital dermoid cyst at the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University. Tu Huifang, chief physician of the eyelid and orbital disease/eye plastic surgery department of the hospital, told Ms. Liu that Dun Dun's condition should be congenital and may have existed since birth, but it was very small at the time, so it was ignored. In addition, cysts usually grow with age, and Dun Dun's current condition can only be treated with surgery.

"Orbital dermoid cyst is a benign tumor caused by congenital developmental abnormalities. It grows slowly and is common in children and young adults." Tu Huifang introduced that superficial dermoid cysts appear as normal-skinned, soft, smooth and elastic lumps, which are mostly found on the upper edge or outer upper part of the orbit; deep dermoid cysts are mostly located in the orbital sutures. When the cyst grows to a certain size, it will cause bone absorption, compress the eyeball and muscles, cause protrusion and displacement of the eyeball, restricted eye movement, decreased vision, etc.

On December 16, Tu Huifang made a cosmetic incision on the outer side of the eyelid and completely removed a tumor the size of a quail egg from the orbital margin.

"Although dermoid cysts are relatively superficial, some can grow very deep and large, even deep into the eye socket, making it difficult to remove, or the wound is too long, resulting in obvious scars, and even damaging important surrounding tissues." Tu Huifang reminded that if it is not completely removed, the remaining capsule may recur. Therefore, once diagnosed, early surgery is recommended.