Auditing outcomes after treatment of Scottish patients with uveal melanoma in Liverpool

Abstract

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular malignant tumour, although it is a rare condition. Between January 1993 and December 1997 a total of 120 patients were referred from Scotland to the Ocular Oncology Service at St. Paul's Eye Unit in Liverpool. Of these, 98 had uveal melanoma, which was treated with primary enucleation (24), or by conservative methods, consisting of plaque radiotherapy (30), proton beam radiotherapy (19), trans-scleral local resection (19), or endoresection (6). After conservative treatment, 92% of eyes were retained, with 65% of eyes maintaining the same level of vision as at presentation or better. The main complications were retinal detachment (8), death from metastatic disease (7) and local tumour recurrence (4). This study gives an overview of the treatment of uveal melanoma and demonstrates that most patients with uveal melanoma can be treated conservatively, with the large majority retaining the eye and good vision.