Amelanotic choroidal nevus and melanoma: cytology, tumor size, and pigmentation as prognostic indicators

Polarization-Diversity Optical Coherence Tomography Assessment of Choroidal Nevi

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the utility of polarization-diversity optical coherence tomography (PD-OCT), a noninvasive imaging technique with melanin-specific contrast, in the quantitative and qualitative assessment of choroidal nevi.

Methods

Nevi were imaged with a custom-built 55-degree field-of-view (FOV) 400 kHz PD-OCT system. Imaging features on PD-OCT were compared to those on fundus photography, auto-fluorescence, ultrasound, and non-PD-OCT images. Lesions were manually segmented for size measurement and metrics for objective assessment of melanin distributions were calculated, including degree of polarization uniformity (DOPU), attenuation coefficient, and melanin occupancy rate (MOR).

Results

We imaged 17 patients (mean age = 69.5 years, range = 37-90) with 11 pigmented, 3 non-pigmented, and 3 mixed pigmentation nevi. Nevi with full margin acquisition had an average longest basal diameter of 5.1 mm (range = 2.99-8.72 mm) and average height of 0.72 mm (range = 0.37 mm-2.09 mm). PD-OCT provided clear contrast of choroidal melanin content, distribution, and delineation of nevus margins for melanotic nevi. Pigmented nevi were found to have lower DOPU, higher attenuation coefficient, and higher MOR than non-pigmented lesions. Melanin content on PD-OCT was consistent with pigmentation on fundus in 15 of 17 nevi (88%).

Conclusions

PD-OCT allows objective assessment of choroidal nevi melanin content and distribution. In addition, melanin-specific contrast by PD-OCT enables clear nevus margin delineation and may improve serial growth surveillance. Further investigation is needed to determine the clinical significance and prognostic value of melanin characterization by PD-OCT in the evaluation of choroidal nevi.

Multifocal choroidal melanoma: a clinicohistopathological correlation

A woman in her late 50s presented with on-and-off redness and diminution of vision in her left eye for 6 months. Her best corrected visual acuity was 20/40 in the right eye and hand motion in the left eye. Anterior segment examination revealed a greyish-white lesion extending from 3 to 6 o'clock hours posterior to the iris and protruding into the anterior chamber. Left eye B-scan ultrasonography showed a multifocal choroidal lesion, a smaller one involving the posterior pole, and a larger lesion involving the complete nasal quadrant and anteriorly extending to the ciliary body and iris. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy performed from the anterior lesion showed a possible neoplastic aetiology of melanocytic origin of the cells. Finally, the patient underwent left eye enucleation with a ball implant. Histopathological examination of the enucleated eye confirmed the final diagnosis of multifocal choroidal melanoma involving the adjacent ciliary body and iris.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) as adjuvant treatment to brachytherapy for amelanotic choroidal melanoma

PURPOSE

To evaluate the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) as adjuvant treatment, after brachytherapy, in posterior amelanotic choroidal melanomas.

METHODS

Six patients with posterior amelanotic choroidal melanoma underwent brachytherapy treatment. Tumour response was assessed by fundus examination, fundus photography and A-B scan ultrasonography. The residual tumours were treated with adjuvant PDT performed with infusion of verteporfin intravenously at 6 mg/m2 body surface area. Five minutes after infusion, a 689 nm laser was applied with a light dose of 100 J/cm2 over an interval of 166 s.

RESULTS

At a median follow-up after brachytherapy of 17.5 months (IQR 16.2-22.5, range 5-42 months), tumours showed a partial reduction of tumour thickness (22.5% as compared to baseline value) and persistent low internal reflectivity at A-B scan ultrasonography. Supplementary photodynamic treatment resulted in complete resolution of the lesion with marked decrease of elevation . Mean decrease in thickness after PDT was 49.9% with respect to previous brachytherapy treatment 22.5% (p = 0.007). The results was achieved within a median period of 4 months (range 2-4 months) after PDT, and there has been no recurrence after a median follow-up of 84.7 months ± 18.7 (range 59 to 107 months).

CONCLUSION

Combined treatment of brachytherapy and adjuvant PDT in amelanotic uveal melanoma seems to be favourable with regard to complete and rapid tumour regression.

Choroidal sarcoid granuloma: a case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Choroidal sarcoid granulomas are often diagnosed in patients without a prior history of sarcoidosis. They are often mistaken for choroidal metastasis, choroidal nevi, amelanotic choroidal melanomas, and uveal lymphomas; however, are easily treatable when accurately identified.

OBSERVATIONS

We searched PubMed, Medline, and Scopus for English-Language case reports published before September 2021. Additionally, we presented a case of a 45-year-old woman with a right-sided amelanotic choroidal mass whose diagnosis was delayed by a COVID-19 infection. Of the 26 cases reported in the literature, 46% were female, 38% were African American, and 19% had bilateral involvement. There was a mean age of 42.15 years and a mean follow-up period of 27 months. The most common complaint was of a progressive, painless blurring of vision, and only five patients had been previously diagnosed with sarcoidosis. The choroidal granulomas were typically described as yellow lesions, single or multiple, found temporal to or at the macula. Most patients were administered steroids, with 69% receiving them systemically, 5% topically, and 8% locally with a triamcinolone injection. All patients reported symptomatic improvement at their final follow-up with resolution of the mass in 65% of patients and improved visual acuity in 76%.

CONCLUSION

Primary testing including fundoscopy, fluorescein angiography, fundus autofluorescence, A/B-scan, and OCT are useful for diagnosis, differentiation from other choroidal lesions, and monitoring treatment response. Steroids are a mainstay of treatment for sarcoidosis and are effective at treating choroidal granulomas. Therefore, early recognition and diagnosis of choroidal granulomas is imperative as treatment can be curative and sight-sparing.

Amelanotic Uveal Melanomas Evaluated by Indirect Ophthalmoscopy Reveal Better Long-Term Prognosis Than Pigmented Primary Tumours-A Single Centre Experience

(1) Background: There is a constant search for new prognostic factors that would allow us to accurately determine the prognosis, select the type of treatment, and monitor the patient diagnosed with uveal melanoma in a minimally invasive and easily accessible way. Therefore, we decided to evaluate the prognostic role of its pigmentation in a clinical assessment. (2) Methods: The pigmentation of 154 uveal melanomas was assessed by indirect ophthalmoscopy. Two groups of tumours were identified: amelanotic and pigmented. The statistical relationships between these two groups and clinical, pathological parameters and the long-term survival rate were analyzed. (3) Results: There were 16.9% amelanotic tumours among all and they occurred in younger patients (p = 0.022). In pigmented melanomas, unfavourable prognostic features such as: epithelioid cells (p = 0.0013), extrascleral extension (p = 0.027), macronucleoli (p = 0.0065), and the absence of BAP1 expression (p = 0.029) were statistically more frequently observed. Kaplan−Meier analysis demonstrated significantly better overall (p = 0.017) and disease-free (p < 0.001) survival rates for patients with amelanotic tumours. However, this relationship was statistically significant for lower stage tumours (AJCC stage II), and was not present in larger and more advanced stages (AJCC stage III). (4) Conclusions: The results obtained suggested that the presence of pigmentation in uveal melanoma by indirect ophthalmoscopy was associated with a worse prognosis, compared to amelanotic lesions. These findings could be useful in the choice of therapeutic and follow-up options in the future.

Uveal melanoma incidentally diagnosed with neuroimaging, a case series of 3 patients

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular malignancy and can occur in the choroid, the ciliary body, or the iris. It is most often diagnosed based on clinical examination by an ophthalmologist. Nearly all patients present with visual symptoms. Characteristic findings on clinical examination include pigmented or pale choroidal masses with serous retinal detachments and acoustic hollowness seen with ocular ultrasonography. CT and MRI of the orbits are not traditionally utilized for the diagnosis of uveal melanoma. We present 3 cases in which uveal melanoma was an incidental finding on neuroimaging for unrelated conditions in asymptomatic patients. Radiologists should maintain a high suspicion for uveal melanoma when an intraocular mass of greater than 2 mm in thickness is seen on CT or MRI.

Chromosome 3 and 8q aberrations in Uveal Melanoma show greater impact on survival in patients with light iris versus dark iris color

PURPOSE

Individuals with gray, blue, or green iris have a higher chance of developing uveal melanoma (UM) than those with brown eyes. We wondered whether iris pigmentation might not only be related to predisposition to UM, but also to its behavior and therefore compared clinical, histopathologic, and genetic characteristics of UM between eyes with different iris colors.

DESIGN

We determined iris color in a large cohort of patients who had undergone an enucleation for UM. Clinical and histopathological tumor characteristics, chromosome status, and survival were compared between three groups, based on iris color.

PARTICIPANTS

412 patients with choroidal/ciliary body UM, who had undergone primary enucleation at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, The Netherlands, between 1993 and 2019, divided into three groups, based on iris color (gray/blue, green/hazel, and brown). Validation cohort: 934 choroidal/ciliary body UM patients treated at Wills Eye Hospital (WEH), Philadelphia, United States.

METHODS

Comparison of clinical, histopathologic, and genetic characteristics of UM in patients with different iris colors.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Melanoma-related survival in UM patients, divided over three iris color groups, in relation to the tumor's chromosome 3 and 8q status.

RESULTS

Moderate and heavy tumor pigmentation was especially seen in eyes with brown iris (p < 0.001). Survival did not differ between patients with different iris colors (p = 0.28). However, in patients with a light iris, copy number changes in chromosome 3 and 8q had a greater influence on survival than in patients with a dark iris. Similarly, chromosome 3 and chromosome 8q status affected survival more among patients with lightly-pigmented tumors than in patients with heavily-pigmented tumors. The WEH cohort similarly showed a greater influence of chromosome aberrations in light-eyed individuals.

CONCLUSIONS

While iris color by itself did not relate to survival of UM patients, chromosome 3 and 8q aberrations had a much larger influence on survival in patients with light iris compared to those with brown iris. This suggests a synergistic effect of iris pigmentation and chromosome status in the regulation of oncogenic behavior of UM. Iris color should be taken into consideration when calculating the risk for developing metastases.

White matter: A good reference for the signal intensity evaluation in magnetic resonance imaging for the diagnosis of uveal melanoma

BACKGROUND

Comparing the signal intensity (SI) of an ocular mass to that of the vitreous body has been suggested. Most ocular lesions show a hyper-intense signal compared to the vitreous body on T1-weighted (T1w) images, and malignant melanomas have been almost always determined as 'cannot be excluded' in reports.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to determine the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of uveal melanoma by using normal white matter as reference tissue for SI evaluation on T1w images and vitreous body on T2w compared to the conventional method using the vitreous body as a reference on both T1w and T2w images.

METHODS

The MRIs of 43 patients (between August 2006 and July 2018) sent to rule out uveal melanoma were blindly reviewed by two radiologists. By using white matter as a reference for SI evaluation on T1w images and vitreous body as a reference on T2w images, uveal melanomas were suggested by hyper-intense signal on T1w and hypo-intense signal on T2w with homogeneous enhancement. The accuracy of diagnosis of uveal melanoma using white matter as a reference on T1w was compared to the conventional method using the vitreous body as a reference on both T1w and T2w images.

RESULTS

The diagnosis of uveal melanoma using white matter as a reference gave a sensitivity of 92.31% (95% confidence interval (CI) 63.97-99.81) and specificity of 100.0% (95% CI 88.43-100.0). By using the vitreous body as a reference, sensitivity as high as 100.0% (95% CI 100.0-100.0) was obtained, but specificity was low at 53.33% (95% CI 34.33-71.66).

CONCLUSIONS

White matter is a good reference for the diagnosis of uveal melanoma, with high sensitivity and much higher specificity than conventional methods using the vitreous body as a reference.

Analysis of local recurrence causes in uveal melanoma patients treated with 125I brachytherapy - a single institution study

PURPOSE

To perform a retrospective analysis of factors which might affect the occurrence of a relapse of uveal melanoma after 125I brachytherapy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The analysis concerned 343 patients treated in the years 2001-2012. The effect on local recurrence of such factors as patient's sex, age, tumour size, shape, pigmentation, location, presence of orange pigment or petechiae on tumour surface, retinal detachment, and blood or dispersed pigment in vitreous body were studied. Additional analysis concerned physical properties of brachytherapy (total dose, irradiation dose applied to tumour apex and base and irradiation time). Two groups of patients were distinguished: with and without a relapse. The diagnostic criterion for the relapse was growth of the tumour base or height by 0.5 mm.

RESULTS

Local recurrence of the uveal melanoma was observed in 29 patients (8.5%). Recurrences occurred with significantly higher frequency (p < 0.001), when the anterior tumour edge involved the ciliary body. Patients' survival in relation to the moment the occurrence of the relapse was statistically significant for application time (p = 0.004) and tumour pigmentation (p = 0.010). The deaths of patients with a local relapse were most rare when brachytherapy lasted from 72 to 95.9 hours and most frequent in cases of brownish tumour pigmentation. Patient sex, tumour shape and size, presence of orange pigment, retinal detachment, petechiae and bleeding to vitreous body as well as the dose of irradiation to tumour top and base did not have any significant effect on relapse occurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

Treatment of uveal melanomas with 125I applicators allows for a high rate of positive local results. Nonetheless, the recurrence probability always exists. The involvement of the ciliary body could influence this. The survival depending on the time of relapse could be statistically significant for application time and dark-brown tumour pigmentation.

Presumed choroidal metastasis from soft tissue myoepithelial carcinoma

Purpose

To report a case of presumed choroidal metastasis from soft tissue myoepithelial carcinoma and highlight challenges in its diagnosis.

Observations

A 52-year-old man was referred with a two-week history of photopsia in his left eye. His background medical history included known soft tissue myoepithelial carcinoma metastatic to his bone, lung, liver and chest wall. A large, raised, yellow choroidal lesion was identified nasal to and abutting the optic disc. This lesion demonstrated growth 1 month after presentation. The patient died with widespread metastatic disease 5 months after initial presentation.

Conclusion and importance

Soft tissue myoepithelial carcinoma can rarely metastasise to the choroid and present as a rapidly-growing, yellow, echodense tumour with serous retinal detachment. MRI brain can assist in tumour evaluation and monitoring progression, while immunoperoxidase stains and molecular testing can assist with diagnosis. The condition has an aggressive natural history and poor prognosis.

Clinical and Imaging Features of Noncutaneous Melanoma

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this article is to summarize the epidemiologic characteristics, clinical aspects, and radiologic appearance of as well as the management considerations and differential diagnoses for noncutaneous primary melanomas occurring at specific anatomic sites. Primary ocular, sinonasal, meningeal, biliary, adrenal, alimentary tract, and genitourinary melanomas are highlighted.

CONCLUSION

Noncutaneous primary melanomas are a complex group of malignancies with biologic findings that are unique when compared with findings for cutaneous melanomas. Each noncutaneous primary melanoma has its own specific diagnostic and management challenges, depending on the anatomic location where they arise.

Management of uveal tract melanoma: A comprehensive review

Uveal tract melanoma is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults, accounting for about 5-10% of all the melanomas. Since there are no lymphatic vessels in the eye, uveal melanoma can only spread hematogenously leading to liver metastasis. A wide variety of treatment modalities are available for its management, leading to dilemma in selecting the appropriate therapy. This article reviews the diagnostic and therapeutic modalities available and thus, can help to individualize the treatment plan for each patient.

Long term ultrasonic follow up of choroidal naevi and their transformation to melanomas

AIMS

To compare ultrasonographic (US) predicting factors for conversion of choroidal naevi into melanomas.

METHODS

659 consecutive eyes with choroidal naevi were examined between 1984 and 2004. 165 clinically suspicious naevi were followed clinically and ultrasonographically (thickness, base diameters, internal reflectivity and location in the eye) for 5.08 (SE 0.24) years.

RESULTS

17 naevi (2.6% of all naevi, 10.3% of suspicious naevi) converted to small choroidal melanomas. The thickness of benign and premalignant naevi differed significant only after 1.5 years of follow up. The mean initial thickness of benign and premalignant naevi was significantly different (p = 0.001), as was mean initial internal reflectivity (p = 0.002) and mean initial largest base diameter (LBD, p = 0.05). Posterior pole and nasally located naevi were more likely to become malignant. A thickness of > or = 2 mm and a LBD > or = 7 mm were most predictive of conversion to melanoma, as was a combined K(I) index of > or = 14.5 (KI = LBD + 4 x thickness + 1 (for nasal location) + 1 (for posterior pole location)). An artificial neural network did not have a better forecasting accuracy than the KI index. Logistic regression found the only significant parameters to influence the risk of conversion to melanoma to be the KI value and the initial tumour thickness.

CONCLUSIONS

A follow up of at least 1.5 years is necessary to detect conversion of naevi to choroidal melanomas. The thickness and LBD of the lesion can be used for predicting the risk.

Uveal melanoma and poor treatment compliance: an atypical outcome with literature review

BACKGROUND

A uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular malignancy and is the primary intraocular disease that can be fatal in adults. Until recently, data were limited regarding growth characteristics and at what stage metastases are likely to occur.

CASE REPORT

A 49-year-old white male presented on January 19, 1989, for a second opinion regarding a spot that had been discovered in the right eye 13 months prior. Ophthalmologic evaluation and echography were consistent for a uveal melanoma of 5 mm elevation and 13.5 x 6 mm in diameter. The patient refused treatment or enrollment into the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study. On December 9, 1991, the eye was enucleated with a modified exenteration due to severe proptosis, tumor thickness of 22 mm, and three areas of extrascleral extension. The patient refused postoperative radiation treatment and refused clinical follow-up. This case was reviewed from the initial evaluation date through the last clinical visit. The patient was recently interviewed with respect to his use of homeopathic medicine, change in lifestyle, and the effect he felt it might have had on his life.

DISCUSSION

The literature published by the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study regarding the histopathologic characteristics of eyes enucleated and the initial mortality findings of a large choroidal melanoma indicate that this is a most unusual case. The patient has defied the mortality findings of the most recent and largest study to date (mean survival rate, 82 months). The patient is still alive 181 months after the original finding of the lesion and refusal of advised treatment recommendations in favor of homeopathic medicine.