JUXTAPAPILLARY MALIGNANT MELANOMA OF THE CHOROID AND SO-CALLED MALIGNANT MELANOMA OF THE OPTIC DISC

Abstract

MALIGNANT melanomas occasionally manifest themselves clinically as more or less pigmented growths within the substance of the optic nerve head. In most instances such lesions are found, on histologic examination, to be situated in part within the choroid adjacent to the nerve structures as they course backward from the nerve fiber layer of the retina to become the optic nerve. These lesions have been called juxtapapillary malignant melanomas of the choroid. In some instances, it has been difficult to decide just where the tumor originated, and, very rarely, it has been contended that the growth arose from structures within the nerve head. The first purpose of this report is to present an example of a pigmented tumor involving the nerve head but rather obviously having taken origin from an adjacent site in the choroid. The portion of the tumor within the nerve substance was identical in gross appearance and histologic