Occurrence of benign glandular tissue in orbital aspirates. Importance of recognizing its lacrimal gland origin.

In the course of performing approximately 100 orbital aspirates, glandular epithelial inclusions were seen in three specimens from three patients. These inclusions, now recognized as benign and normal structures, initially led to false-positive cytologic results in two of the three cases. On the basis of reconstructing the clinical events, they appear to have been derived from the minor lacrimal glands in two cases and from the major lacrimal glands in the third. The potential hazard of regarding these glandular inclusions as indicating metastatic neoplasm is emphasized.