<![CDATA[We reviewed patents with retinoblastoma treated at the Department of Child Health, Adam Malik Hospital, Medan from January 1995 to December 1999. Clinical staging was based on Reese-Ellsworth classification (when the disease was limited to the eyeball) or on St Jude Children's Research Hospital (when the disease has extended beyond the eyeball). A total 19 retinoblastoma patients were available, from which 9 were males. Fifteen patients were less than 5 years old, and the average age at diagnosis was 3 years 8 months. In most patients the disease started at the age of less than 5 years, and they presented themselves with advanced stage as usually seen in developing countries. In nine patients the retinoblastoma affected the right eye, 8 affected the left eye, and in 2 patients the tumor was bilateral. The most common presenting symptom on admission was proptosis. Pathological confirmation was obtained in all patients. Bone marrow puncture was done in 15 patients; of whom 13 showed bone marrow metastasis. Since 1998 the standard treatment for patients with proptosis in stage III or IV of the disease was pre-operative chemotherapy followed by enucleation, radiation and chemotherapy.]]>
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