TABLE 1.

“DOCTOR GASS” LIST OF CLINICAL FEATURES PREDICTIVE OF GROWTH OF CHOROIDAL MELANOCYTIC TUMORS

FIRST LETTER	CLINICAL FEATURE	CORRELATION WITH GROWTH
D	Drusen	Negative
O	Overlying retinal degeneration	Negative
C	Chronic RPE changes	Negative
T	Thickness >2mm	Positive
O	Orange lipofuscin pigment	Positive
R	Reflectivity (low)	Positive
G	Girth (diameter)	Positive
A	Angiographic hot spots	Positive
S	Subretinal fluid	Positive
S	Symptoms	Positive

RPE, retinal pigment epithelium. Chronic RPE changes include atrophy, fibrosis, and choroidal neovascularization. The widely used but arbitrary thickness threshold of 2 mm was suggested by Gass,^6,7 whereas this study indicates an optimal threshold of 2.25 mm. Reflectivity refers to low internal reflectivity, also called internal acoustic quiet zone or acoustic hollowness. Symptoms attributable to the tumor can include blurred vision, photopsia, metamorphopsia, and scotoma. All of these features were described by Gass, except low internal reflectivity.^6,7