Abstract
Purpose: :
To determine the safety of pars plana vitrectomy performed in eyes with a treated choroidal melanoma.
Methods: :
Retrospective analysis of patients at one academic institution who underwent pars plana vitrectomy after treatment of a choroidal melanoma. Data collected included initial tumor characteristics and treatment, cytologic or histopathologic analysis of vitreous biopsies or enucleated specimens and presence of systemic metastases. In some cases, the gene expression profile of the tumor was available.
Results: :
Twenty-two patients met the inclusion criteria for the study. All underwent pars plana vitrectomy after treatment of a choroidal melanoma. Average follow-up time was 23.3 months after vitrectomy and 59.6 months after melanoma treatment. No instances of local recurrence or extrascleral extension were observed. Metastases occurred in three individuals, two of whom were known to have the highly metastatic class 2 gene expression profile.
Conclusions: :
Vitrectomy following successful plaque radiotherapy for posterior uveal melanomas can be performed safely with no apparent increased risk of local recurrence or metastasis.
Keywords: melanoma • vitreoretinal surgery • tumors