METASTATIC MELANOMA TO THE CEREBELLOPONTINE ANGLE - CLINICAL AND IMAGING CHARACTERISTICS

Objective: To describe the clinical and imaging features of metastatic melanoma to the cerebellopontine angle (CPA). Design: A case series s tudy with world literature review. Setting: House Ear Clinic and St Vi ncent's Hospital, Los Angeles, Calif. Patients: Three cases of metasta tic CPA tumors operated on at the House Ear Clinic. Interventions: All patients underwent surgical removal of CPA metastatic melanoma. Main Outcome Measure: Survival and duration of disease-free interval are re ported. Results: Two patients died of melanoma within 5 months of diag nosis and resection of CPA, melanorna metastases. One patient survived for 5 years after undergoing total resection of an isolated CPA melan oma metastasis. Magnetic resonance imaging features were not uniform. Conclusions: Metastatic melanoma to the CPA should be suspected in pat ients with a history of melanoma and a rapid progression of audiovesti bular or facial nerve symptoms. Surgical removal of solitary metastase s to the CPA may be valuable in patients without other melanoma focus; however, the longterm prognosis for patients with CPA melanoma is gri m.