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Cutaneous melanoma-associated paraneoplastic retinopathy: histopathologic observations
1Department of Ophthalmology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, USA. John.Gittinger@Banyan.UMMED.EDU
Purpose:
To describe the retinal histopathology of paraneoplastic retinopathy associated with cutaneous melanoma.
Methods:
A 59-year-old man had visual loss attributable to paraneoplastic retinopathy and died of metastatic cutaneous melanoma. His eyes were studied by conventional histopathologic techniques.
Results:
Histopathologic examination of both eyes disclosed a marked reduction in the density of bipolar neurons in the inner nuclear layer; photoreceptor cell neurons in the outer nuclear layer were normal. Ganglion cells were present, although many showed evidence of transsynaptic atrophy.
Conclusion:
The histopathologic changes observed are consistent with clinical, immunologic, and electrophysiologic data that implicate the bipolar cell as the major site of the paraneoplastic process in cutaneous melanoma-associated retinopathy.