FREQUENCY OF OCULAR METASTASES IN PATIENTS DYING OF CANCER IN EYE BANK POPULATIONS

Aims-To examine the frequency of intraocular metastases in patients wh o had died of cancer, in an eye bank and necropsy population sample. M ethods-The first group included 302 cancer cases received from the Wis consin Eye Bank between 1988 and 1993. In the second group, ocular pat hology records at the Wilmer Institute from 1976 to 1980 were analysed for ocular metastases in necropsy subjects dying of cancer. Non-ocula r cancer was the cause of death in 741 cases; among these, 510 were at tributed to carcinomas. Results-In the Wisconsin Eye Bank group, three cases (1%) had gross metastases. Out of 255 carcinoma cases, one (0.4 %) had gross metastases. In the Wilmer Institute group, gross metastas es were observed in 35 (4.7%) cases. Of the 510 patients dying of carc inomas, six (1.2%) had macroscopic metastases. Ocular metastases were detected histopathologically in 93 of 741 (12.6%) of cases. Conclusion -Even though it is difficult to assess the true frequency of ocular me tastases in patients dying of cancer, the answer to this question was attempted by determining the frequency of ocular metastasis in patient s who died of cancer and who donated their eyes to the Wisconsin Eye B ank or had postmortem examination at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Micro scopic metastases were found in 12.6% of cases. The frequency of gross metastases has decreased over the past 12 years from 4.7% to 1% (p va lue = 0.005) owing to improved treatment of leukaemia; however, the fr equency of macroscopic metastases due to carcinomas has not changed (p value = 0.38).