OCCURRENCE OF CHANGES IN OCULAR PIGMENTATION IN PATIENTS WITH CUTANEOUS MELANOMA

Between October 1990 und April 1992, 116 patients with primary cutaneo us melanoma and 6 with primary ocular malignant melanoma underwent bot h dermatological and ophthalmological examination, standardized person al and clinical criteria being applied. In addition to the record of t he DDG melanoma file, the skin type, eye and skin colour, number of na evi, occurrence of any other cutaneous alterations, and the family his tory with respect to additional malignant neoplasms were documented. I t was found that 18/116 patients with cutaneous melanoma also had naev i of the iris, but none had concomitant ocular melanoma. Notably, 32% of first degree relatives (n = 37) had a malignant neoplasm, as agains t 12% of the dermatological patients with no oncological conditions wh o acted as controls. Although the occurrence of additional changes in ocular pigmentation alterations in patients with malignant cutaneous m elanoma cannot be regarded as significant on the basis of our prospect ive study, the eye, as a potential location of metastases or the origi nal site in primary malignant melanoma, should be examined during stag ing and follow-up examinations, especially as isolated cases of oculo- cutaneous correlation have already been reported.