Should I worry about a choroidal nevus?
Most choroidal nevi remain benign and cause no problems. Just like freckles and moles on your skin, a choroidal nevus can rarely grow into a malignant melanoma. About one in five thousand nevi grows into a melanoma.
What percentage of choroidal nevus becomes melanoma?
It has been estimated that 6% of the white population harbors a choroidal nevus13 and that 1 in approximately 8000 of these nevi transform into melanoma. Further thought into age-adjusted lifetime risk revealed that by age 80 years, the risk for transformation is 0.78% and the risk would thereafter approach 1%.
Can a choroidal nevus affect vision?
Choroidal nevus can produce central vision loss and peripheral visual field loss. Rarely, choroidal nevus can evolve into malignant melanoma.
Is a choroidal nevus a tumor?
Recent findings: Choroidal nevus is a benign melanocytic tumor, often discovered incidentally on ophthalmic examination. This lesion is generally well circumscribed and pigmented.
How often should a choroidal nevus be checked?
Depending on its appearance, patients with a choroidal nevus should have their eyes examined (at least) every 6 months. Only your doctor can look inside your eye to see if the choroidal nevus has changed. If the choroidal nevus has orange pigment or has thickened, it should be checked more often.
Can choroidal nevus be removed?
There is no way to safely remove a choroidal nevus. If your condition turns into choroidal melanoma, your doctor will closely monitor your condition and may recommend radiation therapy. In extreme cases, enucleation (removal of the eye) may be recommended.
How often should eye nevus be checked?
Nevi without any clinical risk features may be examined annually. However, those with one or more risk factors should be examined approximately every 4 to 6 months. Evaluation of these lesions would include a dilated retinal examination and possibly ultrasonography, fundus photography, and OCT.
Can you remove a choroidal nevus?
Is choroidal nevus curable?
Most choroidal nevi do not require treatment. In rare cases, a nevus on the outer wall of the eye may be removed with surgery.
Is it common to have a choroidal nevus?
Wills Eye Hospital, which sees a vere large number of cases, states, “Choroidal nevus is the most common intraocular tumor, occurring in about seven percent of adults.” Suffice it to say, approximately 1 in 10 people have these freckles.
Can a nevus become cancerous?
A dysplastic nevus may develop into melanoma (a type of skin cancer), and the more dysplastic nevi a person has, the higher the risk of melanoma. A dysplastic nevus is sometimes called an atypical mole.
What is a suspicious choroidal nevus?
A choroidal nevus (plural: nevi) is typically a darkly pigmented lesion found in the back of the eye. It is similar to a freckle or mole found on the skin and arises from the pigment-containing cells in the choroid, the layer of the eye just under the white outer wall (sclera).
Are you born with choroidal nevus?
A choroidal nevus is basically a freckle inside your eye. People are not typically born with a choroidal nevus; they can develop over time. They are caused by the clumping of cells called melanocytes, the melanin pigment that colors our skin, hair and eyes.
What causes a nevus in the eye?
They’re made by special cells called melanocytes, which give your skin and your eyes their color. Those cells are usually spread out, but if enough of them clump together, they form a nevus. The other type of eye freckles are called iris freckles.
How common is eye nevus?
When the eye freckle is on the iris (the colored part of the eye), it’s called an iris nevus. Approximately 6 in 10 people have one.
What is the difference between nevus and melanoma?
Another important difference is that a common mole or dysplastic nevus will not return after it is removed by a full excisional biopsy from the skin, but melanoma sometimes grows back. Also, melanoma can spread to other parts of the body.
How do you treat choroidal nevus?
Can nevus turn cancerous?