significance; that is, they must be physiologically relevant in the so-far-unknown target tissue. Their scarcity should not lead to false conclusions about their possible impor- tance. In the human body, many examples exist of tissues with clear innnervation and yet sparse nervous elements. In the quadriceps muscle of the leg, for example, a single axon innervates up to 10,000 muscle fibers, whereas the axons in the external eye muscles innervate only three muscle fibers. In addition, the neuropeptides secreted by axons can diffuse in the tissue over certain distances via paracrine transmission. In conclusion, the present investigation furnishes mor- phologic evidence of possible autonomic nervous system control of cells and tissues of choroidal melanoma. This function may consist in regulation of the blood circulation or in a multitude of biologic processes within the tumor. REFERENCES 1. Seifert P, Spitznas M. Tumours may be innervated. Virchows Arch 2001;438:228 –231. 2. Seifert P, Benedic M, Effert P. Nerve fibers in tumors of the human urinary bladder. Virchows Arch 2002;440:291–297. 3. Iwamoto T, Reese AB, Mund ML. Tapioca melanoma of the iris. Part 2. Electron microscopy of the melanoma cells compared with normal iris melanocytes. Am J Ophthalmol 1972;74:851– 861. 4. Loeffler KU, Seifert P, Spitznas M. Adenoma of the pigmented ciliary epithelium: ultrastructural and immunohistochemical findings. Hum Pathol 2000;31:882– 887. Choroidal Metastasis of a Gingival Squamous Cell Carcinoma Jyotirmay Biswas, MD, Subramanian Krishnakumar, MD, Kaushal Bhavsar, MD, and Mahesh P. Shanmugam, MD PURPOSE: To report a case of choroidal metastasis of a gingival squamous cell carcinoma. DESIGN: Interventional case report. METHODS: Review of the clinical history and pathologic findings. RESULTS: A 59-year-old woman with a history of right gingival squamous cell carcinoma presented with sudden dimness of vision in the left eye of 4 weeks duration. Fundus examination of the left eye revealed a yellowish elevated subretinal lesion involving the optic disk and macula. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the choroidal lesion, left eye, revealed metastatic squamous carcinoma cells. The patient was referred to a radiation oncologist for further management. Accepted for publication Jan 2, 2002. From the Medical & Vision Research Foundations, Sankara Nethra- laya, Chennai, India. Inquiries to Jyotirmay Biswas, MD, Medical & Vision Research Foundations, Sankara Nethralaya 18 College RD, Chennai 600 006, India; fax: (+91) 044-8254180; e-mail: mrf@sankaranethralaya.org FIGURE 2. (Left) Nerve fiber bundle with several axons (asterisks) between spindle A-type cells of a choroidal melanoma. S  Schwann cell, bar  1 m. (Right) Tumor cells with melanosomes in different stages (A), mature melanin granules (B), and melano-lysosomal compartments (C). N  nucleus, bar  1 m. BRIEF REPORTS VOL. 133,NO. 5 713