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  • Title: Transpupillary thermotherapy as primary treatment for small choroidal melanomas.
    Author: Robertson DM, Buettner H, Bennett SR.
    Journal: Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc; 1999; 97():407-27; discussion 427-34. PubMed ID: 10703136.
    Abstract:
    PURPOSE: To report short-term follow-up of eyes containing small choroidal melanomas that were treated with transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT). METHODS: Twenty eyes with suspected small choroidal melanomas were treated with TTT using infrared light delivered from the diode laser. RESULTS: The age of patients ranged from 26 to 82 years. In 14, there was documented growth of the melanoma prior to TTT. Tumor thicknesses ranged from less than 1 to 3.2 mm. Seven tumors were treated more than once. Follow-up ranged from 6 months to more than 3 years. Following treatment, tumor thicknesses decreased in all cases, usually within 2 months. Progressive atrophy of tumor mass and loss of pigmentation within the tumor continued beyond 1 year of follow-up in some eyes. Complications included field defects, vascular changes, and macular abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Transpupillary thermotherapy of small choroidal melanomas is usually followed by early tumor shrinkage but is complicated by dense scotomas, nerve fiber bundle defects, and occasionally macular abnormalities. Short-term follow-up suggests that TTT may arrest growth of selected small melanomas.
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