Tuesday, 27 January 2026

Radiowave-Assisted Iridocyclectomy for Anterior Uveal Melanoma: A 13-Year Clinical Study | Chapter 11 | Medical Science: Updates and Prospects Vol. 4

 

Background: Uveal melanoma is a highly malignant tumour of the eye, which is characterised by melanocytic tumour growth within the uveal tract of the eye. There is a nearly equal distribution of primary uveal melanoma gender. The management options include transpupillary thermotherapy, brachytherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, limited surgical resection, enucleation and orbital exenteration. Complications in the surgical removal of pre-equatorial tumours are largely technique-related and may be reduced by combining tumour resection with simultaneous vessel coagulation using radiowave surgery.

 

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of resecting iris and ciliary body melanoma with the use of a 3.8-4.0-Mhz radiowave surgery unit.

 

Methods: This study was carried out at the Department of Eye Cancer, the Filatov Institute, between 2005 and 2018 and included 45 patients with iris and ciliary body melanoma, with a mean age of 56.3 ± 2.2 years and a slight predominance of female patients (53.3%). Sixty-seven patients who had undergone iridociliary melanoma excision using a conventional technique with cutting tools were used as retrospective controls. The eye examination included visual acuity measurement, perimetry, biomicroscopy and ophthalmoscopy. Tumour, nodus и metastasis (TNM) staging was according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC). No metastases were seen at the time of enrollment. The mean tumour prominence at baseline was 4.0 ± 0.3 mm, with a mean base diameter of 8.3 ± 0.4 mm, corresponding to a tumour volume of  34.3 ± 0.7 mm3. Patients in both groups were stratified by baseline visual acuity into two subgroups (0.1–0.5 and 0.6–0.8). In the study group, subgroup 1A included 37 patients (82.2%) with visual acuity of 0.1–0.5, while subgroup 1B comprised 8 patients (17.8%) with visual acuity of 0.6–0.8, and in the retrospective control group, subgroup 2A consisted of 55 patients (82.1%) with visual acuity of 0.1–0.5, and subgroup 2B included 12 patients (17.9%) with visual acuity of 0.6–0.8 (p > 0.05). The analysis was performed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Statistica 13.0 (Dell Statsoft Inc., Austin, TX).

 

Results: The radiosurgical approach to treatment of iridociliary tumours in our patients allowed significantly reducing the rates of intraoperative and postoperative complications (χ2=4.16; df=1; p=0.04). In addition, the rates of intraoperative and postoperative complications for the treatment of iridociliary tumours with cutting instruments were 9.1% and 10.4%, respectively. The use of a radiowave surgery unit for uveal melanoma resection allowed preserving baseline visual acuity in all patients, with a tumour recurrence rate of not more than 2.2%.

 

Conclusion: The use of a radiowave surgery unit for uveal melanoma resection allowed preserving baseline visual acuity in all patients. Early (12-month) treatment outcomes (visual functions and postoperative clinical course) and late treatment outcomes (visual functions; optic media; IOP; and tumour recurrence) for iridociliary melanoma resection using a radiowave 3.8-4.0 MHz unit allow us to state that high-frequency radiowave surgery enables reducing the risk of intraoperative and postoperative complications and, consequently, preserving a good visual function.

 

 

Author(s) Details

Maletskyy Anatoliy Parfentievic
Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy, National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Odesa, Ukraine.

 

Khomiakova Olena Victorovna
Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy, National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Odesa, Ukraine.

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/msup/v4/6842

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