THE EXPERIENCE OF USING BRACHYTHERAPY IN ANTERIOR UVEAL MELANOMA (LONG-TERM FOLLOW UP RESULTS)

Amiryan A.G., Saakyan S.V., Valskiy V.V., Mironova I.S., Zaharova G.P.

Moscow Helmholtz Research Institute of Eye Diseases. Moscow, Russia.

Purpose. To analyze the long-term results of brachytherapy of anterior uveal melanomas.

Materials and methods. Brachytherapy was performed in 41 patients with anterior uveal melanoma, aged from 11 to 73 years (mean-50,3 ± 18.9), 30 women and 11 men, local surgical treatment was not possible because of tumor prevalence. Follow-up periods ranged from 3 to 76 months (median 24 months).

Results. A total of 31 eyes of 41 were preserved. In the early postoperative period (up to 6 months) the most frequent complications were hypertension and keratouveitis, which were transient. The most frequent complication was radiation cataract (65,5%) in 6 months - 1 year after brachytherapy, which was the main cause of visual acuity decreasing. Continued growth was observed in 3 patients in 24 to 30 months after brachytherapy. Secondary enucleation was performed in 10 patients, four of them due to sclera necrosis. In two patients identified tumor generalization was found in 30 and 18 months after local radiation.

Conclusions. Despite of post-radiation complications, brachytherapy is an effective treatment option for large anterior melanomas, which allowed achieving long-term local tumor control and preservation of eyes in 3/4 cases as a cosmetic and in some cases as a functional organ.

Keywords: brachytherapy, uveal melanoma.

 

Corresponding author: Amiryan A.G., e-mail: Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript

 

For citation:Amiryan A.G., Saakyan S.V., Valskiy V.V., Mironova I.S., Zaharova G.P. The experience of using brachytherapy in anterior uveal melanoma (long-term follow up results).

REJR. 2016; 6 (4):29-37. DOI:10.21569/2222-7415-2016-6-4-29-37.

 

Received: 06.11.2016 Accepted: 21.11.2016