TTT may be effective for choroidal melanoma

Transpupillary thermotherapy can be an effective stand-alone treatment for choroidal melanomas, although precise eligibility criteria are needed to identify appropriate patients, according to a recent study.

Edoardo Midena, MD, and colleagues at the University of Padova, Italy, performed a prospective, noncomparative interventional case series to evaluate changes in the choroidal vasculature following transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) for malignant choroidal melanoma.

The study included 45 eyes of 45 patients followed for an average of 30.5 months.

According to the study authors, changes in choroidal circulation were confined within treatment margins in all but one eye. These changes were characterized by occlusion of choriocapillaris in 100% of eyes, patent medium or large choroidal vessels, or both, in 76%, retinochoroidal anastomosis in 11% and progressive choroidal vascular remodeling in 42%.

Forty-one eyes (91%) also showed persistent clinical regression, and four cases (9%) recurred. Recurrent cases showed retinochoroidal anastomosis, the authors noted.

The study is published in Ophthalmology.