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Updated: Jul 2, 2026
Implantation and Evaluation of Melanoma in the Murine Choroid via Optical Coherence Tomography
Published on: December 2, 2022
Intraventricular occurrence of a melanocytoma
Nitin Tandon1, Thomas J O'Neill, Dennis G Vollmer
1Department of Neurosurgery,University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, USA. nitin.tandon@uth.tmc.edu
Abstract:
Melanocytomas are rare tumors of the central nervous system that are believed to arise from leptomeningeal melanocytes. A young girl presented with a contrast-enhancing cystic mass in the temporal horn of the left lateral ventricle. Microsurgical resection of a black-colored vascular tumor supplied by the anterior choroidal artery was performed. Appropriate immunohistochemical staining and electron microscope evaluations were used to confirm the pathological diagnosis. The patient made an excellent recovery; follow-up imaging revealed no recurrent or residual tumor. This is the first documented primary occurrence of a melanocytoma in an intraventricular location. The intraventricular occurrence of this tumor suggests that melanocytes may migrate into the choroidal fissure and may infrequently undergo neoplastic proliferation in that location. This case contains implications for the differential diagnosis of intraventricular tumors.
Insights
This study reports the first intraventricular melanocytoma, a rare central nervous system tumor. The successful surgical removal in a young girl highlights implications for diagnosing intraventricular tumors.
Area of Science:
- Neuro-oncology
- Neurosurgery
- Pathology
Background:
- Melanocytomas are rare central nervous system (CNS) tumors originating from leptomeningeal melanocytes.
- Intraventricular melanocytomas are exceedingly rare, with no prior documented primary occurrences.
Observation:
- A pediatric patient presented with a contrast-enhancing cystic mass in the left lateral ventricle.
- A black, vascularized tumor supplied by the anterior choroidal artery was identified.
- Surgical resection was performed, and pathological diagnosis was confirmed via immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy.
Findings:
- The tumor was confirmed as a melanocytoma.
- This represents the first documented case of a primary intraventricular melanocytoma.
- The patient experienced an excellent recovery with no evidence of residual or recurrent tumor on follow-up imaging.
Implications:
- The occurrence of intraventricular melanocytoma suggests potential melanocyte migration into the choroidal fissure.
- This finding expands the differential diagnosis for intraventricular tumors.
- Understanding rare tumor locations aids in surgical planning and patient management.
