The uses and limitations of intraocular biopsy

Based upon the author's considerable experience of trans-scleral resection of malignant melanoma of the choroid, a technique has been developed for the biopsy of tissues of the posterior segment of the eye. Its use in the management of atypical malignancy posing diagnostic difficulty and in the investigation of selected case of acute retinal necrosis, uveitis and retinal pigment epitheliopathy is described. In 34 trans-scleral biopsies of choroid, RPE and in some cases, retina, an adverse result occurred in only one case, this it was thought being due to not including pars plana vitrectomy as part of the biopsy technique. Pars plana vitrectomy is now regarded as an integral part of this form of biopsy.