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Melanocytosis

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Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology

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Oculodermal melanocytosis (ODM) was first described by Hulke in 1861 and later by Ota and Fitzpatrick in 1939 and 1956, respectively (Fitzpatrick et al. 1956; Gonder et al. 1982a; Hulke 1860). It is a pigmentary condition of the ocular structures with or without associated pigmentation of the periorbital skin. Rarely the condition can involve pigmentation of the orbit, meninges, CNS, and soft palate (Fitzpatrick et al. 1956; Gonder et al. 1982a; Shields and Shields 2004; Singh et al. 1998). When pigmentation is limited to the ocular structures, the process is termed ocular melanocytosis. With concurrent hyperpigmentation of the periorbital skin, the term oculodermal melanocytosis is used. Recently, the term oculodermal melanocytosis has been utilized to combine the above two descriptions, as both entities involve the common denominator of ocular melanocytosis (Singh et al. 1998).

Signs and Symptoms

Nearly all patients with oculodermal melanocytosis present with pigmentation of the...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, NYU, 70 Washington Square S, New York, NY, 10012, USA

    Zachary Richardson

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  1. Zachary Richardson
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Correspondence to Zachary Richardson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Medical University of Wien Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Wien, Austria

    Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main Department of Ophthalmology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Thomas Kohnen

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Richardson, Z. (2014). Melanocytosis. In: Schmidt-Erfurth, U., Kohnen, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_863-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_863-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35951-4

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