An intracranial lesion discovered in a patient with recurrent conjunctival melanoma: a case report

• Main Authors: Crystal Le, Navid Eghbalieh, Alejandra A Valenzuela, Enrique Palacios
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology 2014-01-01
• Series: Vision Pan-America
• Subjects: conjunctival melanoma; metastasis; intracranial tumor
• Online Access: http://journals.sfu.ca/paao/index.php/journal/article/view/132

Conjunctival melanoma is an uncommon tumor of the ocular surface, representing only 1.6% of all non-cutaneous melanomas.1 Overall metastasis rates range from 14-27%, with 10-40% of which arising in the central nervous system (CNS).1,2 CNS involvement has shown to be the major cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients, with a median survival of between 2 and 10 months.2 Therefore, it is critical to follow these patients closely throughout their lifetime to monitor for disease recurrence. We present a unique case of a 65 year-old woman with a well-documented history of recurrent conjunctival melanoma after multiple excisions. Routine follow up imaging revealed a new intracranial lesion, which presented an interesting diagnostic challenge.