J Korean Surg Soc.  2007 Feb;72(2):147-152.

Metastatic Choroidal Melanoma Presenting as an Abdominal Mass

• Park WS
• Heo SC
• Kim JE
• Chung JK
• Jung IM
• Ahn YJ
• Hwang KT

Abstract

Primary omental tumors are rare, with most being metastatic, especially those from intra-abdominal organs. Breast and lung malignancies, as well as melanomas, are frequent causes of extra-abdominal cancers metastasizing to the omentum, peritoneum and mesentery. The case of a metastatic omental melanoma from the choroid of the eye was experienced, which formed a solitary mass in the omentum similar to that of a primary omental tumor. The patient was unaware of the nature of her eye disease following enucleation seven years previously. Concomitant liver metastases were also not identified on a CT scan, due to their relatively small sizes. Therefore, the metastatic melanoma was misconceived as a primary omental tumor until laparotomy and pathologic confirmation. This case shows that a metastatic melanoma can be presented as an abdominal mass, and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of an intra-abdominal mass.

Keyword

Melanoma; Omentum; Metastatic tumor

MeSH Terms

Breast
Choroid*
Diagnosis, Differential
Eye Diseases
Humans
Laparotomy
Liver
Lung
Melanoma*
Mesentery
Neoplasm Metastasis
Omentum
Peritoneum
Tomography, X-Ray Computed