Uveal melanoma in China

Abstract

We reviewed 65 cases of uveal melanoma from the Shanghai Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital between 1956 and 1979. These 65 cases occurred at a rate of 4.5 cases per 10,000 inpatients on the ophthalmology service. Uveal melanoma is more frequently encountered in China than previous reports have suggested. In China, as in the United States, uveal melanoma is the most frequently occurring primary intraocular neoplasm in adults. We observed a strikingly younger age distribution of our cases; almost 20 percent of cases in our series involved patients between the ages of 19 and 30. The largest number of cases was seen in the fifth decade. However, only 5 cases (8 percent) were seen in the sixth decade. Fundus lesions, which were observed to stimulate choroidal melanoma, are similar to those encountered in the United States. One contrast was the importance of inflammatory lesions in the differential diagnosis of choroidal melanoma. Management of cases was surgical in all instances. A lower percentage of spindle cell tumors and a higher percentage of epitheloid tumors were seen than in most Western series.