title: Conjunctival malignant melanoma.
abstract: A 65-year-old woman was diagnosed clinically to have a tarsal conjunctival malignant melanoma of the upper eyelid. She also had multiple, diffusely pigmented, flat conjunctival lesions. No local or distant metastasis was detected. She was treated conservatively by a combination of surgery and cryotherapy as this was her only seeing eye. Histopathology of the tumor tissue and biopsy specimens of the flat conjunctival lesions proved them to be conjunctival malignant melanoma and primary atypical melanosis with atypia, respectively. Over a follow-up of two years, no clinical recurrence of the tumor was seen. To conclude, a malignant melanoma arising from the tarsal conjunctiva is extremely rare. The goal of treatment should be eradication of the tumor as well as preservation of a functionally and cosmetically acceptable eye.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi-110 029, India. msbajaj32@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Mandeep S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bajaj
authors.forename: Neelam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pushker
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kashyap
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Balasubramanya
authors.forename: Mahesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chandra
authors.forename: Supriyo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghose
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003230:Conjunctival Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D013508:Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed