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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Detection and Isolation of Circulating Melanoma Cells using Photoacoustic Flowmetry
Published on: November 25, 2011
Comparison of transillumination and histologic slide measurements of choroidal melanoma
J Umlas1, M Diener-West, N L Robinson
1Department of Ophthalmology, Tufts/New England Medical Center Hospitals, Boston, Mass, USA.
Objective:
To compare transillumination and histologic slide measurements of choroidal melanomas in 479 eyes randomized to enucleation in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study.
Design:
Transillumination defects were measured during gross examination of enucleated eyes. Tumor basal diameter and height were measured on histologic slides and each tumor was assigned to 1 of 8 distinct shape categories. Comparison of the transillumination and histologic slide measurements revealed 3 categories of difference: underestimation (transillumination measurement more than 4 mm smaller than the histologic slide measurement), overestimation (transillumination measurement more than 4 mm larger than the histologic slide measurement), and agreement within 4 mm.
Results:
There was good correlation between transillumination and histologic slide estimates of largest basal diameter, particularly when the basal diameter was 16 mm or less. Measurement discrepancies were related to the shape of the tumors but not to the presence of subretinal fluid or fixation.
Conclusion:
Agreement was high between measurements of transillumination defect and histologic sections.
