Pseudocystic ultrasound appearance of choroidal melanoma

Editor,—Ultrasonography is useful in the diagnosis, treatment, planning, and monitoring of intraocular tumours. An important step in the diagnostic process is the differentiation between solid and cystic tumours. Uveal melanomas are usually solid but may rarely be cystic (W R Lee, personal communication). Cases have been reported in which pseudocystic appearances on ultrasonography have been due to haemorrhage or necrosis.1-3 We report a patient who appeared to have a cystic tumour on B-scan ultrasonography, which was shown on histology to be due to a very lightly pigmented nodule in a deeply pigmented melanoma.