Choroidal melanoma in an African-American albino.

Abstract

To report the rare occurrence of choroidal melanoma in an African-American albino. A 68-year-old African-American man with oculocutaneous albinism developed an amelanotic choroidal mass in his left eye. A transvitreal fine-needle aspiration biopsy was performed to confirm the diagnosis, and the patient was treated with iodine 125 plaque radiotherapy. The cytology of the needle biopsy showed spindle cells with nuclear atypia and prominent nucleoli. The cells showed positive immunoreactivity for HMB-45, supporting the diagnosis of choroidal melanoma. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a choroidal melanoma occurring in an African-American albino.