Purpose: To describe the first reported case of intraocular synovial sarcoma.
Methods: A 29-year-old man was enucleated for a blind, painful eye. Pathologic examination revealed an unexpected intraocular spindle cell tumor.
Results: Immunohistochemical characterization revealed diffuse reactivity of the tumor cells for vimentin and focal positivity for epithelial markers pankeratin and epithelial membrane antigen. Melanoma markers were negative. Fluorescent in situ hybridization studies identified a t(X;18) (p11.2;q11.2) translocation, establishing a final diagnosis of synovial sarcoma. There was no evidence of extraocular extension as the resected margin of the optic nerve was free of tumor. Further imaging studies revealed no extraocular primary site or metastasis.
Conclusion: The incidental discovery of an intraocular malignancy in this case underscores the importance of routine histopathologic analysis of all enucleated globes. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of an intraocular synovial sarcoma, either as metastasis or as primary site.