Retinoblastomas in Ibadan Nigeria: II--Clinicopathologic features

Retinoblastomas are primary malignant intraocular neoplasms of childhood displaying photoreceptor differentiation. The present study reviews clinicopathological features of these neoplasms in Ibadan, Nigeria. Clinical, surgical pathology, and histological material of 44 histologically verified cases of retinoblastoma indexed in the Cancer Registry, University of Ibadan were analyzed. Retinoblastomas accounted for 1.1% of all malignant neoplasms and were equally frequent in male and female children. The mean age of our patients at the time of diagnosis was 32.3 months, which exceeds a corresponding age of 16-21.5 months recorded among Caucasian children. Leukocoria was the most common clinical manifestation. Eighteen percent of our patients had bilateral neoplasms. These patients were significantly younger than those with unilateral retinoblastomas. Flexner-Wintersteiner rosettes occurred in 61% and optic nerve involvement in 78% of the cases and the sites of predilection were regional lymph nodes, scalp, jaw, brain, skull, long bones, and gum.