CONJUNCTIVAL METASTASIS FROM A CUTANEOUS MELANOMA AS THE INITIAL SIGNOF DISSEMINATION

PURPOSE: We report a case in which a conjunctival metastasis from a cu taneous melanoma was the first sign of metastatic disease, METHOD: An excisional biopsy of an amelanotic pedunculated conjunctival lesion in a 52-year-old man showed epithelioid melanoma. RESULTS: Systemic exam ination showed wide spread disseminated disease from a cutaneous melan oma that had been removed 3 1/2 years earlier. At that time, no signs of metastatic disease were detected. Despite chemotherapy, the patient died 6 weeks later. CONCLUSION: Conjunctival metastasis from a cutane ous melanoma is a rare and ominous sign of widely disseminated disease .