Choroidal melanoma associated with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

A case of pigmented choroidal lesion coincident with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment was observed. The patient refused enucleation, and the retinal detachment was successfully treated by diathermy without drainage of subretinal fluid. Clinically the lesion was observed to enlarge, and upon enucleation five years after diathermy the tumor was seen to be a spindle-cell choroidal melanoma. The patient died from metastases of melanoma six years after the enucleation.