["Biocytology" of diffuse malignant melanomas of the anterior uvea (preliminary report)]

Between 1983 and 1986, six eyes with diffuse malignant melanomas of the anterior uvea were enucleated at the Eye Hospital of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. The characteristic clinical findings were a monolateral open-angle glaucoma in the same eye and a diffuse spreading of malignant melanocytes on the inner walls of the anterior chamber. These cells can be differentiated biomicroscopically (40 x magnification, Zeiss slit-lamp) from melanin granula and benign melanocytes. Findings in two patients show that individual cells can be biocytologically classified in this way. Malignant cells are characterized by large, prominent nuclei and long cytoplasmic processes. Biocytological evaluation of individual melanocytic cells can be helpful in the differential diagnosis of melanocytic processes of the anterior uvea.