Objective: To describe the optical coherence tomography (OCT) features of optic disk melanocytoma.
Design and participants: Case series including 15 patients.
Main outcome measures: OCT characteristics of the tumor.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 42 years. By ophthalmoscopy, the mean basal diameter of the tumor was 2.7 mm, and by ultrasonography, the mean thickness was 1.8 mm. By OCT, the tumor showed a nodular appearance in 14 cases (93%). The tumor displayed a gradual sloping transition from normal retina into the mass, hyperreflectivity at its anterior tumor surface, and dense posterior shadowing with an optically empty appearance in all 15 cases (100%). Thicker tumors displayed thinner anterior hyperreflective borders and denser shadowing. There were no internal qualities of the tumor or disk visible by OCT due to dense shadowing. Other findings of OCT included vitreous seeds in 2 cases (13%) and adjacent retinal edema in 1 case (7%). There were no cases of retinal traction, subretinal fluid, macular edema, or epiretinal membrane in the macula.
Conclusions: Optic disk melanocytoma shows characteristic features by OCT including a gradual transition from normal retina into nodular tumor, and the mass displays a bright anterior border layer with optically empty internal details.