It can occur between checkup appointments, hurting your vision. But you still need to see a qualified eye care specialist for a real diagnosis.Ī potentially malignant nevus can change rapidly from an initially flat profile to an elevated mass on your eye. You can spot certain types of nevi by looking in the mirror. Eye melanoma can spread to other parts of the body.Optic nerve damage (glaucoma), which can quickly cause vision loss.Unlike nevi, eye melanoma is a more serious life-threatening condition. They will intervene, if necessary, to prevent the growth from turning cancerous. With close monitoring, your ophthalmologist may provide a conclusive diagnosis for your eye freckles in less than two years. Other suspicious indications for malignant eye growth include: If the growth keeps getting bigger, it may be an eye melanoma. You’ll not need any treatment if the growth is benign at this stage.īut a second nevus exam in about six months may be necessary to closely track any changes. Once your ophthalmologist confirms that you have a nevus, they’ll take and record an image of the growth. The possibility of any nevus becoming eye melanoma remains real so continuous monitoring after a diagnosis is very important. At 80 years old, the probability is 0.78 percent. However, you’re at a higher risk for your brown spots progressing to cancer when you’re older. The probability of a choroidal nevus turning into cancer is 1 in 8,845. Are Nevi Dangerous?Įye freckles are inherently harmless and rarely develop into cancer. Doesn’t increase in size or spread over timeĪlso, any nevi you’re born with are unlikely to transform into cancer.Nevi are not cancer, although they have certain similarities with eye melanoma, a type of cancer.Ī non-cancerous nevus usually has the following features: Exposing your eye to high-energy beams to remove non-vision or non-life-threatening discoloration wouldn’t make sense. This is also true for laser therapy and radiation. Your ophthalmologist will not recommend it unless there is a significant risk of the nevus progressing to cancer. Laser therapy (similar to radiation but designed to heat and destroy it)ĭepending on how deep or extensive the surgery, it could cause unintended damage to the tissues around the affected part of your eye.Surgery (surgeon cuts into the eye to extract the growth).Radiation (special equipment delivers appropriate doses of high-energy rays into your eye growth to kill or shrink it).The most viable treatment options include: But their largely benign nature makes any medical intervention unnecessary. Eye doctors believe exposure to ultraviolet light may be a factor for this type of nevi.Įye freckles are removable. Sun exposure: A mass of melanocytes can form on your eyes later in life, causing brown or dark spots.They are more likely to be born with the brown spots on the sclera, the white part of the eye. High melanin levels : Some people, especially Blacks, have higher-than-normal amounts of melanin in the body.Possible explanations for why this affects some and not others include: Melanin is a naturally occurring color pigment so any unusual melanocyte buildup can cause visible discoloration or brown spots. In a typical nevus exam, your ophthalmologist will be looking for a cluster of melanin-producing cells, called melanocytes, on the affected part of your eye. The cellular composition of nevi provides the first vital clue as to what their cause could be. CausesĮye freckles form in different ways and sometimes you are born with factors that can bring on these types of growths. There are treatments such as radiation, lasers or even surgery. The causes can vary from a genetic predisposition to too much sunlight. Remember that most nevi are nothing to worry about. ![]() It can affect the colored part of your eye (iris), the transparent tissue layer around your eyeball (conjunctiva) or a tissue layer under the retina on the back of your eye (choroid). Some seemingly harmless nevi can develop into vision-threatening eye cancer. ![]() The lack of symptoms explains why some nevi findings are incidental.ĭespite their benign nature, brown spots on the eye require ongoing ophthalmologic monitoring. You’ll barely experience any discomfort or vision problems when you have a nevus. Sometimes there is only one and then it is called a nevus, or an eye freckle. Nevi are harmless brown spots that may form on different parts of the eye.
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