[Metastatic involvement of the iris in primary carcinoma of the lung]

The authors describe a quite unique case of metastatic affection of the iridial tissue in a 69-year-old female patient treated from 2000 for primary lung cancer. Before assessment of the ophthalmological diagnosis the patient reported pain and redness of the right eye persisting for two weeks. On examination extensive proliferating tissue in the area of the temporal part of the right iris was found and secondarily a painful glaucoma. Treatment with regard to the case-history and general condition of the patient involved enucleation of the affected eye. Histological examination confirmed subsequently the presence of a metastasis of a small cell spindle-shaped lung cancer into the iris with dissemination in the anterior chamber and corneal endothelium.