An unusual ciliary body tumour: a haemangioblastoma

A 23-year-old woman who presented with blurred vision in her right eye from increasing astigmatism had a vascular ciliary body tumour. After slow growth was documented over a 15-month period the tumour was excised with an iridocyclectomy. Microscopically the tumour consisted of sheets of large polygonal cells with round nuclei and foamy cytoplasm, separated by numerous capillaries, findings consistent with a diagnosis of a haemangioblastoma. Haemangioblastomas occur in the retina in von Hippel's disease and this occurrence in the ciliary body is a rare event. Investigation of the patient with a CT of the head and an abdominal ultrasound revealed no systemic lesions suggestive of systemic angiomatosis or von Hippel-Lindau disease.