Disciform choroidal melanoma

Background: The clinical and histopathologic findings in a hemorrhagic lesion involving the right macula of a 77-year-old man are presented. Clinical and fluorescein angiographic evaluation of the lesion led to a diagnosis of subretinal neovascular membrane secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The membrane was judged to be amenable to surgical excision and was excised. Methods: Histopathologic and immunohistochemical studies were performed on the excised tissue. Results: The lesion was a small, epithelioid cell choroidal melanoma. Conclusions: Newer surgical techniques for AMD may tend to preclude watchful waiting in the diagnosis of unusual hemorrhagic lesions in the macula, thereby increasing the importance of histopathologic examination of any tissue removed during such procedures.