Retinoblastoma in an adult is extremely rare. This tumor is most common before the
age of two and rarely occur after the age o( seven. In 1929, Verhoeff reported a
well-documented retinoblastoma in a 48-year-old man. Since that report, about 17
additional crises 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.
|