[Malignant choroidal melanoma with secondary invasion of the sclera]

The melanoma of the choroid is a tumour very rich in cells, with a reduced stroma. The reticular fibres and the pigmentation vary in abundance from one tumour to another and even from one area to another of the same tumour. The tumour vascularization is achieved by incompletely developed vessels with endothelium wall only, or by simple vascular lacunae in direct contact with tumoral cells, having various arrangements: tubular, in palisade, with lobular structure or in pseudo-rosettes. The great degree of malignity of the tumour and its different histopathological aspects connected with the possibility of intraorbital development and of metastasis, which impose early diagnosis and therapy, made us to present these observations.