A Case Report of Retinoblastoma in Adult

Etc

The Korean Journal of Pathology 1982;16(3): 504-507.

성인에서 발생한 망막모세포증 1예 보고

ABSTRACT

Retinoblastoma in an adult is extremely rare. This tumor is most common before the age of two and rarely occur after the age of seven. In 1929, Verhoeff reported a well-documented retinoblastoma in a 48-year-old man. Since that report, about 17 additional cases have appeared in the world literature, but not in the domestic areas. This case report is of a 67-year-old man whose enucleated right eye was found to contain a retinoblastoma. It is believed to be the first recorded instance of retinoblastoma in an adult in Korea. Grossly, the globe was a normal size and shape, measuring 26×25×25㎜. The cut surface revealed two large grayish-white intraocular tumor masses in the temporal and nasal area, measuring 19×12㎜ and 10×4㎜ in its extent, respectively. Microscopically, the tumor consisted of round and oval hyperchromatic cells with scanty cytoplasm. There were typical abundant Flexner-Wintersteiner rosettes, necrosis with multifocal calcification, cholesterol clefts and foreign-body giant cells. The tumor invaded the sclera, but the optic nerve was intact. The pathogenesis of the retinoblastoma occuring in adults seems to be a late development.