Association Between Choroidal Thickness and Metabolic Activity on Positron Emission Tomography in Eyes With Choroidal Melanoma.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between subfoveal choroidal thickness and metabolic activity in eyes with choroidal melanoma.


METHODS
Retrospective, interventional case series.


METHODS
The medical records of 16 patients with unilateral choroidal melanoma who underwent ruthenium (Ru) 106 brachytherapy with adjuvant transpupillary thermotherapy and who had available pretreatment positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) images were retrospectively reviewed. Subfoveal choroidal thickness was measured in tumor eyes and in unaffected fellow eyes using enhanced-depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (EDI OCT). Tumor eyes were divided into 2 groups (metabolically active and inactive) based on PET-CT findings and subfoveal choroidal thickness was compared between groups. Additionally, choroidal thickness measurements were compared before and after treatment.


RESULTS
Before treatment, mean choroidal thickness was 293.31 ± 46.80 μm in tumor eyes and 242.44 ± 65.37 μm in fellow eyes, a difference that was statistically significant (P = .003). Eyes with metabolically active tumors had a significantly thicker choroid (348.00 ± 17.32 μm) than eyes with metabolically inactive tumors (280.69 ± 42.04 μm, P = .019). In tumor eyes, mean choroidal thickness significantly decreased from pretreatment values to 253.56 ± 61.27 μm 6 months after treatment (P = .018).


CONCLUSIONS
Eyes with choroidal melanoma had thicker choroids than unaffected fellow eyes. Increased choroidal thickness was more prominent in metabolically active tumors. Choroidal thickness significantly decreased in tumor eyes 6 months after treatment.
Department of Ophthalmology, The Institute of Vision Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Ji Hwan
JH
Lee
Department of Ophthalmology, The Institute of Vision Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Sung Chul
SC
Lee
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Arthur
A
Cho
Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Ki Chang
KC
Keum
Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Yang-Gun
YG
Suh
Department of Ophthalmology, The Institute of Vision Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: sklee219@yuhs.ac.
Christopher Seungkyu
CS
Lee
D001918:Brachytherapy; D002829:Choroid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002830:Choroid Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18