Purpose : Choroidal melanoma is the most common primary ocular malignancy among the adult population. Authors investigated the clinical findings, histopathologic features, types of retinal detachment and the precise anatomic origin of enucleated eyes for primary ocular malignant melanoma in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) hospitals between 1990 and 2005.

Methods : This was a cross sectional study in which medical records of patients with pathologically proven ocular malignant melanoma were reviewed; and then the relevant clinical data were gathered, based on the modified Callender classification for uveal melanomas .

Results : Over the 15-year period of this study, there were 40 patients with microscopically confirmed ocular melanoma at the pathology department of SUMS. Mean age at initial diagnosis was 45.9 years (range, 5-74 years) . Women constituted 51.9% of patients. The most common histological type in uveal melanoma was mixed cell type and painless visual loss was the most frequent presenting complaint. Retinal detachment was seen in 88.8% of cases.

Conclusion : In this study we found more epitheloid (malignant) cell type (11.1%) in Iranian population comparing to western countries (3%) and also there was more malignant cell type (epitheloid cells) in male comparing to female (m/f=2) which may be related to sex hormonal differences that should be investigated in future. Histopathologically, the more malignant cell types become more prevalent with advanced age groups.