Abstract

Purpose:To investigate the correlation between clearance margins and recurrence of periocular malignancies.
Design and Methods:We undertook a retrospective study of 100 patients with periocular malignancies at Birmingham Midland Eye Centre between 2014-20. Data recorded included initial clearance margin,histological diagnosis,further excision margins,recurrence and treatment.
Results:Basal cell carcinoma(BCC) constituted 94% of our cohort.Minimum follow up was 3 months.Infiltrative BCCs and smaller clearance margins were risk factors for recurrence(p=0.029 and p=0.013 respectively).Clearance of 1.0mm was not found to have a significantly lower risk of recurrence compared with margins between 0.99-0.25mm.There was a significantly lower risk of recurrence if clear margins were >0.25mm(p=0.007).
Conclusion:Current guidelines recommend 3mm of clearance.Our data suggests a smaller margin of 1mm and re-excision if <0.25mm could be implemented without compromising the risk of recurrence.