title: Melanocytoma-like growth of a juxtapapillary malignant melanoma.
abstract: The case of a 49-year-old woman with a presumed melanocytoma of the right optic disc that grew into a malignant melanoma 7 years after initial diagnosis is presented. When the patient was first examined, the clinical features were typical of a melanocytoma. A marked increase in tumor size during the following years was the only evidence indicating malignant transformation. After 7 years, however, the ophthalmoscopic picture had changed into that of a malignant melanoma, and the eye was enucleated. Histologic examination revealed a choroidal tumor composed mainly of spindle B-type melanoma cells, with infiltration of the overlying retina and optic disc nerve fiber layer.
authors.affiliation: Universitaets-Augenklinik Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: K U
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Loeffler
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tecklenborg
mesh_terms: D002830:Choroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005134:Eye Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology*; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000473:pathology