title: [A clinicopathological study of 297 cases of retinoblastoma].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To find a morphological criterion of classification for choroidal invasion of retinoblastoma in order to further study clinical pathology of retinoblastoma (Rb) under an integrate rule.
  
  
  METHODS
  The changes of retinal pigment epithelium, Bruch's membrane and choroid on histopathological sections of primarily enucleated eyes with Rb in 297 cases were observed under a light microscope.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The globe wall invasion could be morphologically divided into four stages (briefly pigment epithelium-choroid classification). Stage I: Only retinal pigment epithelium was infiltrated, the Bruch's membrane was intact. Stage 2.: The Bruch's membrane was destructed, but the choriocapillaries were not invaded. Stage 3: The invasion reached middle choroidal blood vessels close to the choriocapillaris in a limited scope. Stage 4: Massive choroidal infiltration of all choroidal layers existed and the sclera could be simultaneously involved. The mortality for stage 4 was 11.5% and for stage 1 to 3 was 0.4%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The pigment epithelium-choroid stage (PEC-stage) classification in our study can be used as an integrate rule to compare the invasion degree of retinoblastoma in different individuals and studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical University, Wuhan 430030.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schilling
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Effert
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wessing
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000473:pathology*; D019572:Retinal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D012175:Retinoblastoma / Q000473:pathology*