Comparison of basal diameters in choroidal melanoma using ultra-widefield color fundus photography and ultrasonography.

OBJECTIVE

For diagnosis and monitoring of ocular neoplastic lesions, ultrasonography (US) measurements are pivotal. Using color fundus photographs rather than US may allow follow-up with an ophthalmologist close to patients' home and may reduce the need of patients to travel to specialized ocular-oncological centers. This study aims to compare measurements of choroidal melanoma (CM) diameters in ultra-widefield color fundus images (UWF-CF) to measurements based on US.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

In this comparative retrospective study patients with CM and available US and UWF-CF were included. Standardized US measurements and UWF-CF were compared using Bland-Altman plots and paired t-tests to evaluate agreement of methods.

RESULTS

53 eyes of 53 patients with CM (31 male (58.5 %), mean age 63 ± 13 years) were included in this study. Mean transversal diameter (TD) was not statistically significantly different between US (9.06 ± 2.65 mm) and UWF-CF (9.04 ± 3.07 mm; p = 0.920). Mean longitudinal diameter (LD) was statistically significantly greater in UWF-CF (10.01 ± 2.86 mm) as compared to US (9.31 ± 2.55 mm; p = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONS

Tumor diameters can be assessed accurately in UWF-CF. TD on UWF-CF is comparable to US measurements via a standardized procedure. Differences may be explained by the presence of e.g. fibrosis or hard exudates obscuring basal tumor diameters.