Choroidal melanoma is an uncommon malignant melanoma among non-Caucasians. We report here a case of a high myope patient who presented with symptoms of acute retinal detachment, which had been diagnosed as possible rhegmatogenous retinal detachment from the initial assessment. A detailed vitreoretinal evaluation revealed a glimpse of an obscured intraocular mass underneath the detached retina, which later proved to be a choroidal melanoma. This is an unexpected cause of retinal detachment in a myopic eye. Furthermore, the rare nature of choroidal melanoma in this particular region of the world makes this an ignored diagnosis at presentation.
The present study was carried out to establish the antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic properties of the aqueous extract of Melastoma malabathricum leaves in experimental animals. The antinociceptive activity was measured using abdominal constriction, hot-plate, and formalin tests, whereas the anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities were measured using carrageenan-induced paw edema and brewer's yeast-induced pyrexia tests, respectively. The extract, which was obtained after soaking the air-dried leaves in distilled water for 72 h and then preparing in concentrations of 10%, 50%, and 100% (v/v), was administered subcutaneously 30 min prior to subjection to the above mentioned assays. At all concentrations tested, the extract was found to exhibit significant (P < 0.05) antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic activities in a concentration-independent manner. Our findings that the aqueous extract of M. malabathricum possesses antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic activities supports previous claims on its traditional uses to treat various ailments.