choroidal metastasis: clinical aspects at a referral ocular oncology center

purpose : to report clinical aspects of choroidal metastasis at a referral ocular oncology center methods : we reviewed the records of all patients with choroidal metastasis referred to an ocular oncology referral center over a 10-year period retrospectively. the study was performed to identify and analyze clinical presentations and features of patients with choroidal metastasis. results : a total of 113 choroidal metastases were diagnosed in 60 eyes of 48 consecutive patients. there were 17 male (35.4%) and 31 female (64.6%) patients with a mean age of 54.5 years (median: 42 range, 29- 82 years) at the time of choroidal metastasis diagnosis. the median and mean numbers of choroidal metastasis were one and three tumors in each eye respectively. the primary cancer location was found to be the breast in 18 patients (37.5%), lung in 11 (22.9%), lymphoproliferative system in three (6.3%), thyroid in three (6.3%), gastrointestinal tract in three (6.3%), prostate in two (4.2%), brain in one (2.1%) and unknown primary in seven (14.5%). the most common primary cancer was the breast in females and lung in males. the main ocular symptoms of choroidal metastasis at diagnosis were blurred vision in 42 patients followed by pain in five patients. the choroidal metastasis was unilateral in 36 patients (75%) and bilateral in 12 patients (25%). conclusion : the clinical features and primary sites of choroidal metastasis in iranian patients were similar to those of published reports in this regard. one out of every seven patient had no known primary cancer at the time of choroidal metastasis presentation.    iranian journal of ophthalmology 201325(3):204-210 © 2013 by the iranian society of ophthalmology