<p>INTRODUCTIONMushroom-shaped choroidal melanoma is known to be associated with breaks in Bruch's membrane and is more likely to develop when Bruch's membrane is diseased. The study's goal is to determine if diseases causing breaks in Bruch's membrane predispose a choroidal melanoma to develop into a mushroom-shaped melanoma.p><p>MATERIALS AND METHODSA retrospective review of cases of choroidal melanoma seen at our institution was carried out to determine if mushroom-shaped melanomas are more common than dome-shaped tumours in patients with macular abnormalities involving a loss of Bruch's membrane integrity. Forty-nine eyes of 48 patients were included in this retrospective study. A dome-shaped or mushroom-shaped configuration was assigned to each tumour. Macular degeneration, macular drusen, retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) stippling, macular oedema, choroidal neovascularisation (CNV), angioid streaks, disciform scars, lacquer cracks, and myopia greater than -3.00 D, were considered to constitute evidence of potential Bruch's membrane breaks and were determined in both eyes. A chi-square evaluation was used to compare the proportion of eyes with macular abnormalities in the 2 tumour configuration groups.p><p>RESULTSThe tumour was dome-shaped in 40 eyes (82%) and mushroom-shaped in 9 eyes (18%). Macular abnormalities, indicative of loss of Bruch's membrane integrity, were seen in 21 (53%) of 40 eyes with dome-shaped melanomas and 5 (56%) of 9 eyes with mushroom-shaped melanomas. The proportion of eyes with macular abnormalities was not statistically different between the dome-shaped and mushroom-shaped tumours, as assessed by chi-square analysis (P = 0.87).p><p>CONCLUSIONSBruch's membrane disease does not influence the differentiation of choroidal melanoma into mushroom-shaped or dome-shaped tumour growth patterns.p>
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bruch Membrane ; abnormalities ; Chi-Square Distribution ; Choroid Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; pathology ; Comorbidity ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Melanoma ; epidemiology ; pathology ; Middle Aged ; Retinal Diseases ; epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Visual Acuity

Most isolates of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) display a broad host range. Since the late 1990s, the genetic lineage of PanAsia topotype FMDV serotype O has caused epidemics in the Far East, Africa, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and numerous other countries throughout Europe and Asia. In contrast, there are several FMDV isolates that exhibit a more restricted host range. A Cathay topotype isolate of FMDV serotype O from the 1997 epizootic in Taiwan (O/TAW/97) demonstrated restricted host specificity, only infecting swine. Methods used to evaluate infectivity and pathogenicity of FMDV isolates in cattle are well-documented, but there has been less progress studying transmission and pathogenicity of FMDV isolates in pigs. In previous studies designed to examine pathogenicity, various chimeric viruses derived from O/TAW/97 were intradermally inoculated in the heel bulb of pigs. Subsequent quantitative scoring of disease and evaluation of virus released into nasal secretions and blood was assessed. Here we prove the usefulness of this method in direct and contact inoculated pigs to evaluate infectivity, pathogenicity and transmission of different Asian FMDV isolates. Virus strains within the Cathay topotype were highly virulent in swine producing a synchronous disease in inoculated animals and were efficiently spread to in-contact naive pigs, while virus strains from the PanAsia topotype displayed more heterogeneous properties.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral/blood ; Disease Outbreaks/*veterinary ; Foot-and-Mouth Disease/epidemiology/transmission/*virology ; Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus/*pathogenicity ; Host Specificity ; Swine ; Swine Diseases/epidemiology/transmission/*virology ; Taiwan/epidemiology