Diagnostic surprise in an evisceration specimen

Risk Factors for Enucleation Following Open Globe Injury: A 17-Year Experience

Purpose

At the time of open globe injury (OGI), it may be difficult for clinicians to predict which eyes are at highest risk for requiring enucleation. We performed a 17-year retrospective cohort study to report outcomes and risk factors for enucleation following open globe injuryto better aid clinicians counseling patients at OGI diagnosis.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study of all patients who presented to the University of Michigan with open globe injury (OGI) and were surgically managed between January 2000 and July 2017 was conducted. At least 30 days of follow-up was required. All eyes that ultimately underwent enucleation following OGI were identified and their clinical course analyzed. The main outcome measured was the rate of enucleation after OGI.

Results

There were 587 eyes meeting inclusion criteria. The mean patient age was 40.75 ± 25.1 (range 1–91). 441/585 (75.4%) patients were male. Average follow-up time was 1029.9 ± 1285.9 days. 116/587 eyes (19.8%) required enucleation after OGI, with 81.9% undergoing enucleation less than 30 days from injury. In enucleated eyes, the mean presenting logMAR vision was 2.91 ± 0.47 (Snellen equivalent between hand motion and light perception). The most common mechanism of injury requiring enucleation was globe rupture, 89/116 (76.7%), with 14/116 (12.1%) penetrating injuries and 13/116 (11.2%) perforating injuries. The mean age of patients that underwent enucleation was 45.6 ± 22.5 (range 3–91).

Conclusion

Open globe injuries are often visually devastating and a significant number of cases ultimately require enucleation. Despite emergent closure within 24 hours, 19.8% of eyes managed for OGI at our institution required eventual enucleation. 81.2% of these eyes required enucleation within 30 days of injury. Wound length greater than 10 mm, uveal prolapse, higher zone of injury, IOFB, and RAPD were identified as risk factors that predict future need for enucleation.

Retinal Pigment Epithelium Adenoma and Adenocarcinoma: A Review

Adenoma and adenocarcinoma of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) are rare intraocular tumours that are often misdiagnosed as posterior uveal melanoma or other simulating lesions. It is important to be able to differentiate these tumours from melanoma for 3 reasons. First, an inability to rule out melanoma often tilts the management towards enucleation. Second, management options like radiotherapy and local resection which work well for melanoma may not be easily applied to these tumours. Third, and most importantly, patients with melanoma need a lifetime follow-up to rule out metastases (metastatic dormancy) whereas RPE tumours hardly metastasize. An abruptly elevated, often deeply pigmented tumour, with a prominent retinal feeding artery and a draining vein causing exudation, should raise a suspicion of RPE tumours. RPE tumours have a remarkable local invasive potential but a low metastatic potential. Most RPE tumours require treatment due to local complications. Small, asymptomatic tumours can be generally observed. Enucleation is still the gold standard of treatment, although local resection has been reported in selected cases with good results. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the demographic, clinical, and imaging features of true acquired neoplasms of the RPE, namely adenoma and adenocarcinoma, the ways to differentiate them from melanoma, their clinical course and prognosis, and Options for their management.

Extraskeletal Osteosarcoma: A Rare Case Arising in Phthisis Bulbi with a Review of the Literature

A 60-year-old male presented with an increasingly painful and swollen phthisical eye. Enucleation revealed a large mass obliterating the eye with extension into the adjacent extraocular muscle. Histologic examination showed high-grade osteosarcoma. Systemic work-up showed no disease elsewhere, and a diagnosis of orbital extraskeletal osteosarcoma was rendered. Complete resection was not possible, and neoadjuvant radiation was given. The patient subsequently developed pulmonary metastasis and died of disease 5 months after initial diagnosis. Given the highly aggressive nature of this malignancy, raising awareness that extraskeletal osteosarcoma may arise in the background of phthisis bulbi will facilitate timely and accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Adenocarcinoma of the Retinal Pigment Epithelium Arising in Conjunction with Late Recurrence and Systemic Metastasis of Retinoblastoma

In 1974, an 8-month-old male was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma. His left eye was enucleated, while the right eye was salvaged with a combination of external beam radiotherapy (4,000 cGy total, divided in 20 fractions) and retinal laser treatment. Thirty-nine years later, he developed intraocular recurrence of retinoblastoma with extrascleral spread. Histopathological examination also identified a second distinct malignancy, retinal pigment epithelium adenocarcinoma, arising in continuity with the retinoblastoma. Further investigation revealed foci of metastatic retinoblastoma in his parotid gland. He was subsequently treated with a combination of orbital exenteration, extensive neck dissection, and resection of metastatic foci, followed by a high-dose ablative chemotherapeutic regimen consisting of cisplatin, vincristine, and cyclophosphamide. Although very rare, late recurrence of retinoblastoma with systemic metastasis is possible, and continued clinical observation and appropriate long-term follow-up should be considered. Additionally, it is important to consider a second primary intraocular tumor in the differential diagnosis, especially in a patient with heritable retinoblastoma who has undergone radiation therapy.

RPE Adenocarcinoma as the Presenting Sign of Bronchogenic Carcinoma: Diagnostic Dilemma in the Management of a Case

Neoplasms of retinal pigment epithelium are rare and must be differentiated from choroidal melanoma. The possibility of a metastatic disease with possible primary sites as lung, breast, or kidney should be ruled out. Herein we report a case of adenocarcinoma arising from the RPE with a lung lesion suspicious of bronchogenic carcinoma. In this paper, ocular symptoms were the first sign of a systemic malignancy.

A histopathologic review of undiagnosed neoplasms in 205 evisceration specimens

PURPOSE

Evisceration and enucleation are 2 ophthalmic surgeries used to treat blind and painful eyes. The benefits of evisceration over enucleation are many but this procedure is contraindicated in cases of a suspected intra-ocular mass. Given the lack of such studies in the literature, our aim was to review a large sample of eviscerated specimens to document the prevalence of unexpected neoplasms.

METHODS

During the study period (1994-2011), 13,591 human ophthalmic specimens were received at the Henry C. Witelson Ophthalmic Pathology Laboratory and Registry. Of those, 205 were evisceration specimens. Histopathologic reports were reviewed to retrieve relevant clinical information that included clinical diagnosis, age, gender, laterality, and final histopathologic diagnosis.

RESULTS

The total number of unexpected neoplasms was 4 (1.95%) including 2 (0.97%) malignancies: necrotic melanoma (1), ciliary body adenoma (1), iris nevus (1), and spindle cell melanoma (1). All the other remaining eyes had histopathologic findings that were consistent with the underlying diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS

With proper pre-operative evaluation, including history, ophthalmologic examination, and imaging studies, the rate of unexpected neoplasms in evisceration specimens were low. Evisceration is a simpler and cheaper procedure when compared with enucleation, and our results corroborate its safety, whenever indicated to treat blind and/or painful eyes.